Rising Phoenix
by cleo0421
Summary: "You've always protected me, now it's my turn to protect all of you." Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Elena counts the day that Natasha saved her from that lab as the day she truly began life anew. Follow her journey as she discovers who she is and was meant to be as she becomes the youngest Avenger! Goes from Iron Man 2-Avengers 2 and beyond. Main story starts in Ch.4
1. Chapter 1: Out of The Ashes

**Chapter 1: Out of The Ashes**

 **Hey guys! So this is the start of my new fanfiction Rising Phoenix! I just want to warn you, there will be OOCness since I'm adding in a new factor to the story that will have an effect on some people's characters, especially Natasha's. So sorry in advance to those that don't like OOCness! I'm** **only writing in 3rd person for this first chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoy! –Cleo**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Marvel universe or anyone in it, just my Ocs and any plot twists.  
**

* * *

 _"Agent Romanoff, report to Director Fury on the bridge."_

Natasha looked up as she heard her name called on the intercom. Sighing, she put down the knife that she had in her hand before gathering her things and leaving the training room. She wondered what Fury wanted. She hadn't been with SHIELD for very long, so he still hasn't trusted her to go on any missions by herself. She was surprised that Clint's name hadn't also been called.

Because Clint had been the one to bring her in they were made into partners. She was still wary of the agent, but he was growing on her. He gave her another chance at life and decided not to kill her even though it was his mission. He was either very intuitive or just plain stupid. Either way, it was a life debt that she would work to repay.

Walking down the hallway she arrived at the door to Fury's main office. She pressed the button on the side of the wall and the door slid open. Stepping inside she walked up to Fury's desk.

"Agent Romanoff, reporting for duty sir." Natasha lifted her hand up in salute as she looked at him. Fury sighed as he placed a manila folder on the table and pointed at the chair in front of him.

"Sit down agent." He ordered as he folded his hands in front of him. Natasha pulled out the chair before sitting down. Fury pushed forward the file on the table so that it was in front of her.

"The reason I called you here is within this file. I want you to infiltrate a certain organization and gather as much intel as you can." He opened the folder and Natasha had to bite her tongue to keep from gasping. On the front page was a name that she knew very well. KGB.

"But-."

"You are the one with the most knowledge on this. I don't want to hear any complaints. I understand that this is very close to you, but I need you to put that aside and complete this mission." Fury gave her a stern look with his good eye to let her know that she couldn't back out of this. The cold assassin stayed silent for a moment before reluctantly nodding in agreement. She was trained to put her emotions aside. She could handle this.

In reality she felt a whirlwind of emotions. This was her life before SHIELD. This was the red ledger that she would bare for the rest of her life. Memories filled with agony and pain filled her head as she forced her face to maintain a neutral expression. Showing vulnerability was a weakness, and Natasha hated being weak.

Pushing aside all darker thoughts, Natasha went into mission mode. "If I'm infiltrating, shouldn't I go with someone else? It would be safer to have backup." She suggested. The KGB bases were highly secured locations and even though she knew she was good, even she would have trouble getting into some. Fury shook his head before flipping to the next page in the file and handing it to her.

"You aren't going to need backup for this. It's purely a stealth mission and I feel that others would slow you down. You'll be infiltrating a smaller base on the outskirts of Russia. It isn't nearly as protected as the other bases, but I've heard news that they're doing something big there. Rumors have been going around that the Russians are beginning to mess around with serums again. I want you to gather as much intel as you can on Project Revival and report back. You leave at 0600 tomorrow. Dismissed." She nodded as she took the file and stood up. Just as she was about to open the door Fury's voice stopped her.

"Romanoff, I'm trusting you with this mission. Don't disappoint me."

* * *

"We're nearing the drop zone agent. ETA, 5 minutes." Natasha nodded at the pilot as he looked at her over his shoulder. Standing up, Natasha grabbed onto one of the overhead bars and tightened the straps on her parachute. She was being dropped off on the edge of Sakhalin, a large island off the coast of Russia's mainland. When Fury said that the base was on the edge of Russia, he really meant _the edge_.

"We are now over the drop zone, drop when ready agent!" The pilot yelled over the sound of the wind as he lowered the quinjet's hatch. Natasha walked to the edge before leaping straight out. She squinted her eyes as the wind rushed passed her face and she tucked her arms to the side of her body while pulling her legs together. She nosedived towards the ground at top speeds.

Looking down at the tree filled area, Natasha scoped for a good landing spot. Finding one, she aimed towards the small opening. She focused on the fast approaching earth.

 _5000…_

 _4000…_

 _3000…_

 _2000…_

 _NOW!_

Natasha's body jerked as she yanked on her parachute cord and her freefall slowed to a slow decent. She bent her knees as her feet hit the ground and pushed a small button on the side of her parachute, retracting it into its bag. Natasha quickly ripped the bag off of her body before going towards the nearest tree and climbing it. Once she got to the top, she scanned the area to get her bearings. In the distance to the north of her was a large building made of stone. It had walls surrounding the base with barbed wire on top.

Natasha spotted a few guards around the area, but Fury was right. Compared to other bases, this one was practically wasn't guarded at all. She quickly jumped out of the tree and ran to the base. When she arrived at the wall she practically ran up it before pulling herself up with both hands and casually getting over the barbed wire. Her suit prevented annoying pinpricks like this from getting through.

Hiding behind some boxes as a guard walked by, Natasha glanced over at the main base. It had plenty of windows along its side, so she knew how she was getting in. She silently crept towards the base, hiding from the occasional guard. All in all, this might be one of her easiest assignments. Natasha arrived at the side of the main building and, after glancing around, ran up the wall and climbed through the window.

Looking up, she came face to face with a scientist. He gaped at her before reaching frantically for something at his waist. Natasha never let him get it. In a split second she had pulled out her gun and shot the poor man straight in the head.

"Nothing personal, you were just in my way." She stated as she bent down and rummaged through the man's lab coat. It was apparently Natasha's lucky day since she pulled out a key card from the breast pocket. Standing up she took a good look at her surroundings. It appeared to be a lobby of sorts with stairways at the sides.

Natasha sighed as she shot a guard who happened to walk into the room at that moment. She hid the bodies behind a desk before walking up the stairs and arriving at a long hallway that had doors everywhere. She pulled out the keycard before entering it into the slot on the first door. "What's behind door number 1?"

* * *

After nearly half an hour of opening doors, surprising random people, and dispatching of them via a good kick to the head or a gunshot, Natasha could honestly say that she was a little annoyed. She had hacked into a dozen computers and had not found anything useful on Project Revival.

All she knew was that it had to do with enhancing molecular control with a serum. But, that meant nothing if she couldn't find out the effects of the serum and who the subject was. There were some images on one of the computers, but the subject's face was blurred out. The only thing that Natasha could make out was that it appeared to be a girl with blonde hair.

Busting into another room, Natasha quickly scanned her surroundings. Unlike the other rooms this one was basically empty. A large bookcase stood by the wall to her right and a desk stood in the middle of the room. It seemed as though the desk was completely untouched, as if it was just for decoration. _Maybe it is._ Natasha mused as she stepped over to the bookcase. On the floor were faint track marks, evidence that something had been repeatedly moved across it.

Natasha put her hands on the side of the bookcase and pushed hard. Her body jerked forwards as the bookcase gave way and moved to the side. Behind it was a staircase leading downwards. After barricading the door to the room so no one could get in behind her, Natasha stepped forward cautiously before beginning her trek down, the bookcase closing behind her.

* * *

The staircase led to a large set of double doors. There were two guards standing by the doors and a slot in the middle for a keycard. Natasha quickly pulled out her gun and shot the first one. The second man looked in alarm at his fellow guard before getting similar treatment. Moving the bodies away from the doors, she pulled out the keycard and slid it into the door. She expected to see more scientists and computers. She did not expect to see something, or someone, else.

Lying in the middle of the room was a girl strapped down to a table. An IV was connected to the girl's wrist and her body was completely bare, revealing crisscrossing scars all over. But, the most striking and strange thing about the girl was the pair of white wings coming out of her back.

Natasha stared in shock before a loud alarm rang throughout the base and shook her out of her reverie. She cursed under her breath before shooting the stray scientists in the room. Natasha had been so distracted by the girl that she didn't notice the other people in the room and they managed to trip the alarm. She had approximately two minutes to get out of there before reinforcements came.

Running to the center computer, Natasha hacked into it and skimmed over the files. These ones seemed to have much more data on Project Revival, so she jammed a USB into it before beginning to download everything off of the hard drive. While that was going she went over to the girl.

The girl was the one on the cover of the project's files. Getting a closer look at her, Natasha realized that this girl couldn't have been more than 8 years old. The girl was covered in dirt and dry blood, and her ribs were poking out. Natasha was reminded of her own time in the Rooms and hatred filled her mind. She shook her head. _I have a job to do._

Natasha unstrapped the girl's limbs from the table and pulled the IV out of her arm. Immediately after the needle left her skin the girl's eyes flew open. She rolled off the table quickly before crouching down and getting in a defensive position. Natasha recognized the look in her eyes. Fear. Pain. Vulnerability. But, what Natasha found interesting was the defiance she found. This girl was only a child, but she had a fighting spirit and would not just lie down and die. Natasha liked that.

"W-who are you?! Stay away from me!" The child shouted as she backed up even more and bumped into a desk. Natasha held up her hands in a placating manner.

"Calm down, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help." She stated in a soothing voice. The sooner this kid calmed down, the sooner they could get out of here.

The girl shook her head. "That's what the strange men said…I don't believe you." The girl glared at Natasha as tears filled her little green eyes. Even if Natasha would forever deny it, her heart broke a little for the child. She knew what it was like to not trust anything or anyone for fear of the betrayal that was sure to follow. She knew what it was like to have no one. Natasha crouched down and let a small half-smile cover her face.

"I'm here to get you out. I agree, these men are bad. But, I promise that I won't ever hurt you. I'm here to protect you. You want to leave, right?" The girl hesitated before nodding slowly. Natasha held out her hand.

"Then come with me." The girl stared at Natasha's hand for a minute, before she stood up and cautiously reached out her hand. Natasha had to hold back her surprise as the girl's wings seemed to retract into her body. _Interesting…_

The girl grabbed Natasha's hand with her tiny one. Natasha smiled again before standing up and leading the girl to the doors after she grabbed the USB. She could hear footsteps pounding in the halls above and she knew that the time was up. Natasha looked down at the girl again.

"I'm going to need to pick you up and get you out of here. It's going to get bumpy and it might be a little scary. Do you trust me?" She asked. The little girl looked up at Natasha before a little, shy smile spread across her face.

"I think so…but, what's your name?"

"Natasha. What's your name?" Natasha replied as she picked up the little girl with one hand and pulled out a gun with the other. The little girl's face lit up with pride as any 7 year old's would.

"I'm Elena!"

* * *

After meeting little Elena, Natasha carried the girl out of the room and up the stairs. She managed to jump out of a window before guards entered the room. Natasha landed on the roof outside in a crouch and, after checking Elena to make sure she was okay, she ran off the roof and landed on the ground.

Guards began shooting at her and she immediately took cover behind some boxes. Putting Elena down, she peeked over the box before shooting down some of the guards. Elena crouched onto the ground and covered her ears as the loud gunshots filled the air. She was scared, but Tasha promised to protect her, so she knew that it'd be okay.

Natasha glanced down at the crouching girl before resuming her attack on the guards. She noticed that the guards were thinned out and realized that this was her chance to get out before the next wave of guards arrived. After shooting one last man, Natasha bent down and picked up Elena. She turned and immediately ran at the walls surrounding the base. Natasha ran up it before pulling herself the rest of the way up with one hand. She jumped up and over the barbed wire and landed on the soft dirt outside.

Clicking the button on her earpiece, Natasha began talking.

"This is Agent Romanoff. Mission completed and awaiting pickup." Elena looked up at Natasha in confusion, probably wondering why she was talking to herself.

" _Roger that agent. Evac ship awaiting at drop zone."_ A deep voice reported through the communicator. Natasha immediately took off towards the area that she had been dropped off at. She weaved through trees, running from the loud footsteps that she heard trailing behind her. The men were approximately 30 seconds behind her. When she got to the quinjet she'd have to go and go fast.

After a minute of running, Natasha finally arrived at the clearing where the jet was waiting for her arrival, a rope ladder dropped down. She grabbed onto the ladder securely with one hand while sticking her feet onto the bottom of the ladder. She secured her grip on Elena before signaling the pilot to take them up. Immediately they were ascending into the air.

The men below had finally caught up to them and began shooting at Natasha who barely flinched as a bullet grazed her arm. The ladder began to retract into the jet, carrying Natasha and Elena into it. Natasha only allowed herself to relax slightly once they were safely inside the jet and flying off. Elena, who had been hiding her face in Natasha's shoulder, cautiously leaned back and looked Natasha in the eyes.

"Is it over yet?"

* * *

Elena fidgeted under Fury's gaze as he examined her carefully. Her wings were back out after Natasha had requested that she expose them. Natasha herself was sitting in a seat opposite of the child, her arm wrapped in gauze. Director Fury tilted his head.

"What's your name kid?" He questioned firmly as he leaned on the table in front of him. Leave it to Fury to interrogate a kid. The girl in question looked up at him.

"I'm Elena, why do you have that patch over your eye? It's weird." Elena stated as she put one hand over her left eye, mimicking Fury. Maria Hill, who was standing in the corner of the room, put her hand over her mouth as she hid a smile of amusement. Natasha even cracked a smirk at the motion. Kids were refreshing with their bluntness. Fury merely stared back.

"I like it. Do you have a last name Elena?" Elena's head tilted in confusion.

"Last name?" she scratched her head as she considered the notion. Natasha realized that Elena might need an example. She leaned forward.

"Do you have a full name? My full name is Natasha Romanoff." She explained as she pointed at herself. Elena stared at her before her gaze dropped to her lap.

"I-I think that I used to. I can't remember much…" the little girl mumbled as she rubbed her forehead. Fury just nodded.

"That's to be expected I suppose, considering where you were. How old are you?" he continued. Elena thought about it again before shrugging. She didn't know that either. Natasha decided to fill in that blank.

"I managed to look into some of those files that were on the computer. Apparently, she's 7 years old, birthdate unknown." She stated. In the corner of her eyes, Natasha saw Maria's gaze harden. Even Fury's normally neutral stare gained some anger at that statement.

Natasha could understand, she saw the scars on Elena. The notion that someone had done all that to a little girl was despicable. Natasha had experienced things like that first hand and she wouldn't wish it on her worst enemy, let alone a little girl. And, even if both Maria and Fury were normally stone cold, they weren't heartless.

Elena, oblivious to the tension in the adults, began talking. "The bad men said something about young kids being the best specimens. They said something about my blood too, but they used big words…" She scratched her head at the thought. Natasha let out a wry smile.

"Adults do that kiddo. You'll get used to it, and someday you'll speak the 'big words' too." She stated. Elena smiled at that and began swinging her legs.

"Elena, now that you're out of that place, people will come after you. You're going to have to stay here to be safe, do you understand?" Fury cut in as he gave Elena a serious look. She stopped swinging her legs and stared back.

"Are you going to hurt me too?" She questioned as her body tensed up. Fury shook his head.

"No, we want to protect you." He stated simply. Elena still seemed suspicious. Natasha's eyes widened slightly in surprise as Elena looked up at her with a questioning gaze. The little girl seemed to trust Natasha and therefore was looking to her for guidance. Getting over her shock, Natasha nodded, signaling that it was okay to trust Fury. Elena's gaze shifted back to the Director and she nodded.

"Good, now we're going to set up for one of our agents to take care of you-."

"What about Tasha?" Elena cut in with a questioning gaze. The other three people in the room balked in surprise, Fury hiding his the best while Natasha's eyes were wide. Maria looked like she was expecting that. Natasha wasn't surprised by the nickname. She guessed that her name was too long for the little girl so she decided to shorten it. But, Elena's question took her off guard.

"Natasha?" Fury questioned, equally as surprised. Elena nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, Tasha promised to protect me, so shouldn't she stay with me?" Her head tilted to the side. Fury seemed to be deep in thought for a moment before he stood and began to walk out the door.

"Agent Romanoff, I wish to talk to you in private. Agent Hill, entertain Elena." He stated as he walked completely out the door. Natasha nodded before she stood up and began to follow. Elena looked up in horror before jumping out of the chair and latching herself to Natasha's leg.

"Elena? You have to let go." Natasha stated as she tried to pry the 7 year old off of her leg. Elena shook her head.

"No! The bad men will come back without you! Don't leave!" The girl was nearing hysterics. Natasha glanced at Maria helplessly, but the woman seemed just as lost. Natasha kneeled down next to the girl and placed a hand on her head.

"Hey, I won't be gone for long and you're safe here. The bad men can't get to you from here. Agent Hill over here can protect you too just in case, okay?" Natasha said as she smiled comfortingly at the girl. Elena looked up with tearful eyes as she sniffled. The little girl held up her hand and stuck out her pinky finger.

"Pinky promise?" Elena asked as she looked Natasha in the eye. Natasha smiled as she lifted up her hand and locked her larger pinky finger with Elena's.

"Pinky promise." She nodded. Natasha stiffened as Elena suddenly launched at her with a hug. She couldn't remember the last time she'd ever had a hug. Natasha was far too dangerous and damaged for that type of tender connection, but here was this little girl fully trusting and innocent. Natasha's arms were out in front of her, frozen. But, she slowly let her arms curl around the girl in front of her in a warm embrace.

Elena was smiling brightly as she backed out of the hug, and Natasha remembered that Fury was waiting for her outside. She stood up stiffly before rubbing Elena's head and turning towards the door, smiling as Elena glared and fixed her dirty hair.

 _Note to self: get that kid a bath_. Natasha mused as she opened the door. Stealing a glance at Maria, Natasha glared at her as she realized that the woman was smirking smugly having seen the whole thing. She quickly walked out and shut the door behind her, ignoring Maria's chuckles.

* * *

"Took you long enough agent." Fury stated as she stepped outside.

"Sorry, Elena threw a little fit." Natasha shrugged as she explained. Fury nodded before a little smirk covered his face.

"Oh I know, saw the whole thing." He looked at her with his eye as he pointed at the one-way mirror that showed what was going on inside the room. Natasha held back a groan. _Of course he saw that…_

Natasha quickly began to change the subject. "What did you want to talk about sir?" Fury looked back inside the room at Elena as she and Maria began to converse.

"Elena seems quite attached to you agent." He stated simply. Natasha looked back in the room. Maria was smiling at Elena who seemed to have become comfortable with the woman. But, Natasha could see that she was still tense.

"And, you also seem to be attached to her." Fury mused as he looked at her. Natasha realized that a subconscious smile had crept onto her face and she quickly schooled her expression.

"No need to hide anything agent. This might make things a little easier in the long run." Fury reassured her as he saw her tense up. Natasha looked over at him in confusion before understanding filled her eyes.

"Sir, you can't seriously be thinking of-."

"Oh, I'm doing more than just thinking Romanoff. That little girl won't be happy with anyone else I set her with. Plus, I think you want it just as much as her. I think this could be good for you." Fury placed his hand on Natasha's shoulder as he continued. "She'll need someone to protect her and you need someone to protect and connect to."

"Never took you as the sentimental type."

"Natasha." Fury's serious tone and use of her full name told her that he wasn't fooled by her attempt at avoiding the main issue. Sighing, Natasha leaned on the wall.

"What do you expect me to do? I can't take care of a kid." She shook her head. Fury turned back towards the glass window.

"She needs someone Romanoff. I had some agents run a face scan, DNA scan, anything to find out where she's from. She's nowhere. The kid literally has no records anywhere except from that base that we found her in. Apparently even the main KGB offices had no idea the kid even existed. This was apparently a secret experiment done independently by that one base, which explains why it was so poorly guarded. She has no relatives. She's also going to be hunted down for what she is, what she has. We're not sure exactly what effects the serum she was injected with will have, but we know that those wings were not an effect of the serum." At that, Natasha looked at him in surprise.

"What? But, then where did they come from?" She questioned as she looked at the dirty white wings that spread out behind Elena. Fury shook his head.

"That's the thing, we have no idea. That's why we're trying to keep this under wraps. If people found out that some girl had wings? She'd be hunted for her DNA alone. Now that she has some super soldier genes as well, the kid is like a walking gold mine for scientists. The decision is up to you Romanoff, but just know that you made a promise to Elena that will be better kept if you're her guardian." Fury finished as he stared her in the eyes.

Natasha stared back before turning to Elena who had somehow gotten her hands on some crayons and paper from Hill. She was coloring a few figures on the paper. There was a tall man with a dark circle over one eye, a woman that had a brown circle on top of her head (Natasha was guessing that it was Maria's signature bun), another woman with curly red hair, and Elena was currently working on a small child. The thing Natasha noticed was that the red-haired woman was holding the child's hand.

Natasha considered it all. Elena had no family and needed someone to protect her. But, was Natasha the right person for that? She wasn't going to lie, she found herself caring for the girl and wanting to protect her. But, she felt that her hands were too unclean, too red to hold such an innocent girl in her care.

Natasha looked at Elena and she felt her walls weaken. Maybe, just maybe, this child could be the white in her life. Natasha looked over at Fury with a sigh, and nodded. Fury smiled and patted her shoulder reassuringly.

"Let's go tell her the news. She'll be happy."

* * *

"-and then I dreamed that the uni-bunny fell off of the chocolate train, but it was okay because he landed on the marshmallow frog. But, the marshmallow frog ended up going smoosh." Natasha and Fury walked in just as Elena finished describing her dream to Maria who was smiling the 'aw, you're so cute even though I have no idea what you're talking about' smile.

Natasha raised one eyebrow before looking over at Maria. "Uni-bunny?" she questioned. Maria just shrugged.

"Unicorn/bunny." She explained. Natasha nodded in understanding. She'd never understand the mind of a 7 year old. Fury just ignored the whole thing before sitting down in a chair.

"So, we've decided what we're going to do." He waited until Elena was actually looking at him before continuing. "You will stay with Agent Romanoff during your time at SHIELD. She'll be your guardian/mentor." Elena's eyes lit up with excitement as she smiled up at Natasha brightly before a thought struck her and she cocked her head in confusion.

"Men…tor?" she tried out the word. Natasha was guessing that she didn't know what a mentor was, so she stepped in.

"A mentor is a teacher of sorts. I'll be helping you out in SHIELD when you don't understand certain things." She explained. Elena nodded in understanding as she started swinging her legs again. After that was explained, Fury continued with other business.

"Elena, now that you have people after you, you're going to have to learn to defend yourself. It's completely up to you, but do you want us to train you to protect yourself?" He questioned as he leaned forward on his elbows. Natasha and Maria were paying close attention to Elena for her answer. This would decide the girl's future.

Unlike before, Elena completely understood this topic and what it meant. She went into deep thought about it as she stared at her knees.

"I want to be able to help people, not just protect myself. Could I do that too?" Elena looked Fury in the eye, and for the first time, he smiled at her.

"We give you the skills you need, but it's up to you what to do with them. You won't be allowed to actually get missions until you're 18, but we can teach you to fight, and if you want to, you can become a great agent who protects others when you're older." He promised. Elena stared at him for a moment before smiling and sticking out her hand.

"It's a deal!" she stated proudly. Fury nodded before reaching out his hand and shaking Elena's. After taking back his hand he called other agents into the room.

"Someone get this kid a bath and a sandwich!"

* * *

As Elena was taken away to get cleaned up and fed; Fury, Natasha, and Maria went to the labs to see if there was any news on the blood they had gotten from the girl.

"It's seems that most of it is comprised of the same coding as regular people. There are some differences of course, but we can't determine how some of these will affect the girl. Out of all the differences we found, we've only been able to distinguish the effects of four.

The first affects her healing process. She'll heal nearly three times as fast as a normal person, and this ability has the potential of growing as she gets older. The second is a DNA coding for her wings. Like we suspected, she has had her wings since birth. They weren't the work of some serum.

The third is her enhanced strength. We aren't sure exactly how strong she is, but we're assuming it has the same effects as the Black Widow's serum unless they've upgraded since then. Fourth, the serum also affected her brain. She can learn twice as fast as a regular person. In other news, we haven't been able to find out what 'enhancing molecular control' does yet. We're guessing that the girl will display some abilities later that we won't be able to find out just from bloodwork." The doctor finished his explanation and looked up at Fury. Natasha herself was curious on what abilities Elena would possess, plus she was very curious on how Elena could've been born with wings.

"Thank you doctor, you're dismissed." Fury nodded. The doctor nodded back before leaving the room. Fury opened a file that was given to him by the people that went through the Project Revival USB.

"Romanoff, did Elena ever mention remembering anything from her past?" He questioned as he gazed down at the papers. Natasha shook her head.

"No, all she said is that she didn't really remember much." She shrugged, wondering where he was going with this. Fury just nodded before handing her the file.

"I think this might explain why." He stated. Natasha took the file and looked through it. Her eyes widened in surprise. Project Revival had started 4 years ago, meaning that Elena had been there for most of her life.

"How is this possible? Elena acts like any normal kid would, besides being a little smarter than most." She questioned. Elena acted like she had a normal childhood besides the whole serum thing.

"When the scientists were working on Elena it seems that they programmed normal child behavior so that she'd know what it looked like. They planned on sending her out when she was older as a spy, and they wanted to make sure that she knew how to act. She knows what normal children have and do, but she's never actually experienced it. It's like knowing the book definition of what a friend is, but never having one." Fury explained.

Natasha nodded in solemn understanding. She knew what it was like to be programmed like that, and she hated that it had happened to Elena ever since she was a toddler. Glancing over at Maria, Natasha noted that the agent had schooled her expression. Fury sighed before switching topics.

"Anyways, that was just so you understood her situation. On other news, Romanoff, you'll be in charge of Elena's training. I want you to teach her hand-to-hand combat and have her specialize in a weapon of her choice." He stated. Natasha nodded in affirmation before a thought crossed her mind.

"Where will Elena and I stay? My room here is too small." She questioned. Her room here was a small space with only a bed, closet, and bathroom inside. It was standard issue for the agents here. Fury nodded in understanding before tossing something her way. After catching it, Natasha realized that it was a set of house keys.

"We've set up a house just outside the base within walking distance if you need to get here quick. It's fully furnished and child safe, and don't worry about security we've got that covered. You'll find directions to the house inside a new minivan we got you. You're stuff has already been moved over and Elena should be waiting in the garage for you. You two have fun now." He waved over his shoulder as he began to walk away with Maria.

Natasha looked between Fury and the keys in her hand. This seemed too planned out. Seeing the smirk on Maria's face Natasha put two-and-two together.

"You knew right when I brought her in that I'd be taking care of her, didn't you." She sighed as she looked at Fury's retreating back. He merely looked at her over his shoulder with a smug smile.

"I'm not the director for nothing Romanoff."

* * *

After arriving at the garage Natasha instantly spotted Elena. Now that the dirt and grime was washed off of the girl, she had beautifully golden blonde hair that practically glowed in the sunlight. Her skin was fair and her green eyes seemed to be brighter than before. _When she's older this girl is going to be a little heartbreaker._ Natasha mused. Elena was currently describing another one of her dreams to some agents animatedly.

"-and then the goose smacked the polar bear on the head and said, 'You can't eat that! Trix are for kids!" Elena shouted as she mimicked a goose flying around by flapping her arms. The agents around her laughed before one of them picked her up and lifted her into the air, flying her around. Elena let out squeals of delight as she flapped her arms around more and the agents all laughed again. Natasha smiled at the scene before she schooled her expression.

"Agents, don't you have work to do?" She questioned as she crossed her arms. Immediately everyone was silenced and they ran off to do their work in fear of getting on the Black Widow's bad side. Only Elena was left as she looked up at Natasha in confusion.

"Why'd you do that?" She asked. Natasha observed that she didn't sound upset, merely curious.

"Well, they need to work and we need to get going." She explained as she grabbed Elena's hand and began walking towards the silver minivan that Fury had gotten her. Elena shook her head.

"No, not that. Why'd you frown like that? You should smile more!" Elena declared. Natasha looked down at the girl and thought about how to explain this.

"Elena, I'm not a very open person most of the time. People here are scared of me for what I did before, and I don't trust them either." Natasha explained gently. Elena frowned as she considered this.

"But, you're not scary. And, just because you don't trust them doesn't mean that you can't smile!" She protested. Natasha snorted. Elena just didn't know how scary she could be, but she let the girl's innocence be. Elena huffed at being scoffed at and she crossed her arms before looking pointedly away from Natasha.

Natasha sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for laughing at you. I promise to try and smile more, okay? I'll try, but I can't promise that I actually will smile more." She stated as she rubbed Elena's head again. Elena quickly fixed her newly washed hair before smiling up at Natasha.

"I forgive you! And, it's okay if you don't actually smile a lot as long as you swear to try." She stated as she rose up her pinky again.

"Pinky promise?" Elena questioned. Natasha rolled her eyes, but smiled.

"Is this going to become a thing with you kid? Fine, I promise to try." She promised as she locked her pinky with Elena's. Elena nodded in satisfaction before running up to the minivan and jumping into the car seat that Fury had so kindly added for her. Natasha rolled her eyes fondly at her enthusiasm before she walked over and buckled the girl in.

Natasha walked over to the driver's side and got in. There was a GPS in the middle of the dashboard and someone had already entered the address of their new home.

 _Home…_ It was a strange concept that Natasha would have an actual home. Elena was new to the whole thing too, so they could experience this together. The whole drive there Elena was asking where they were going and also the infamous 'are we there yet?' question. Natasha guessed that they hadn't told Elena about getting a new house, so she stayed silent to surprise the girl.

After just a couple minutes of driving they arrived at the house. Since the SHIELD base was already on the edge of the city, the house was on a little hill overlooking part of the city. It was a two story house that looked like it was a good size. Natasha parked the car in the driveway before getting out and unbuckling Elena from her seat.

Elena practically flew out of her seat and ran up to the front door. She waited on the front porch, bouncing up and down excitedly. Natasha shook her head with a small smile before walking over and taking out her keys. She picked Elena up and covered her eyes with one hand as she opened the door with the other.

Stepping inside, Natasha closed the door behind her and set Elena down with her eyes still covered.

"Ready?" Natasha asked as she bent down next to the girl. Elena nodded vigorously, still bouncing. Natasha slowly pulled her hand away, revealing the house to the girl who gasped in excitement.

They were currently standing in a large entrance area with a curved staircase to their left leading to the second floor. Through the entranceway was a large, carpeted living room with a leather couch, flat screen TV, and a fireplace. To the left of the entranceway was a formal dining area. To the right of the entrance was a room filled with instruments. Natasha was guessing that they wanted to be prepared in case Elena got interested in that stuff.

Elena ran through the living room to look around more. To the left of the living room was the kitchen. It had a marble island in the middle with the appliances being lined up on the far side of the room. At the end of the large kitchen, towards the back of the house, was a table with a window behind it that had a great view of the city. Windows like that also lined the living room. There was a porch outside also.

Elena ran back towards the staircase and ran up to the second floor, Natasha sighing tiredly as she followed. Upstairs there was a hallway that had two doors on either side, with all of the doors leading to fully furnished rooms.

There was a master bedroom at the beginning of the hallway which Natasha quite liked. It had a nice red and black theme going on with plenty of places to hide weapons. Elena's room had her name on the door and inside her room's color scheme was light blue and white. She had a big bed and little stuffed animals lined the wall. The other two rooms were plainer and would probably be used as guest rooms.

At the end of the hallway was a large toy room filled with stuffed animals, dolls, and games to play. Natasha had to admit, whoever designed all this was really good at what they did. Elena fell in love with everything and smiled up at Natasha brightly.

"Is this our home now?" She asked excitedly. _Our home._ Natasha was suddenly hit with the reality that she would be taking care of Elena. They would be living together and Elena would have needs that Natasha would have to fill. It will be a lot of work. But, somehow, as Natasha looked down at the little girl in front of her, it would all be worth it. She smiled as she put her hand on Elena's head.

"Yeah, welcome home kiddo."

* * *

 **That's a wrap on chapter 1! I hope you enjoyed and will continue to read! Constructive criticism appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2: Bonding in New Life

**Chapter 2: Bonding in New Life**

 **Hey guys! I already had this chapter pre-made, so you get 2 in 1 day! This will now be written from Elena's point of view. Also, sorry but this chapter is more about Elena being introduced into SHIELD more so it won't have action. These first few chapters will probably be more on the slow side. Bonding between the people of SHIELD and Elena ahead! –Cleo  
**

* * *

"Tasha, have you seen my jacket?!" I shouted as I ran down the stairs. It had been a few weeks since I'd got here and things were finally beginning to settle down and get comfortable. Natasha and I had gotten used to each other and we were getting closer every day. Even though I could use her full name, I still choose not to. I like calling her Tasha, it makes me feel special.

"It's on the couch!" Natasha shouted back from the kitchen. I smiled as I recognized the smell of bacon and eggs. Turns out, Natasha was actually a pretty good cook. I quickly snagged my jacket from the couch before putting it on and zipping it up. It was my favorite jacket. Natasha bought it for me when we went shopping for clothes a couple weeks ago and I loved how soft it was.

"Is the food almost ready?" I questioned excitedly as I sat at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Natasha smiled in amusement at my eagerness. I was proud that the agent was beginning to smile more around me; I took it as a well-earned achievement.

"Just about, I just need to finish frying the eggs." Natasha stated as she set a couple plates down. Once the food was on the plate I practically devoured it. I never had good food like this when I was living with the bad men. They only gave me some gross mushy stuff that tasted like bad feelings.

"Don't eat so fast, you don't want to be sick today." Natasha scolded as she looked up from her own plate. I looked up at the woman before nodding and eating at a slower pace. Natasha was right after all. Today was the first day that we were going back to SHIELD. Natasha had been given time off from Director Eyepat- oops, Fury is what I meant. He wanted us to be able to settle in. He also said that he wanted her to bring me in after a few weeks so he could check up on how we were doing.

I personally was doing lots better than how I was before. My ribs weren't poking out anymore and I wasn't covered in dirt all the time either. Natasha told me that it was normal to take a bath at least every other day if not every day. I had never taken a bath before. My favorites were the bubble baths! Natasha would let me play with some duckies and I got to make bubble beards. I gave her one once; I don't think that she liked it very much.

After breakfast, Natasha put away the dishes and we went outside to our car. I like riding in the car. Everything went by so fast. I tried to count the trees that went by, but I couldn't count more than 3 in a row because I couldn't keep up! I don't like car seats though, cause Natasha said that they're for little kids, and I'm not a little kid. I tried telling her that once, but she just laughed and rubbed my head. I don't like her messing up my hair either.

After a couple minutes we drove back into the garage and Natasha parked the car. As she got out of her door I fumbled around with my buckle, trying to get out. I remember that Natasha pressed on the big, red part in the middle so I did that to. It didn't budge at first, but I gave it another hard push and it popped open. I smiled proudly as I hopped out of my seat just as Natasha opened my door. She stared at me with a surprised look on her face as I hopped out.

"Look Tasha! I got out of my seat!" I shouted excitedly as I pointed at myself. Natasha merely rubbed her head and mumbled something that sounded like 'child proof' and 'stupid enhanced strength'. I ignored it. Natasha mumbles like that sometimes. I waved at some adults that passed by and they smiled and waved back. I never understood why Natasha didn't smile as much as others, but I'll just have to help her with that.

Natasha grabbed my hand and began leading me towards an elevator. Once we got inside she pressed one of the buttons and the elevator doors closed behind us. I looked up at her as I had a thought.

"Are we gonna see Ms. Maria today too?" I questioned. Ms. Maria was really nice to me when we first met; she even gave me some crayons to draw with. I still think she draws a much better uni-bunny.

"I think so. She's usually wherever Fury is, and we're going to see him right away." Natasha shrugged. I nodded, happy with her answer. The elevator doors opened again and Natasha pulled me along until we entered into a large room with a table in front of us. Computers lined the walls towards the back of the room and agents were sitting at all of them. **(Imagine the helicarrier's bridge, except on land)**

Mr. Fury was standing on a platform that overlooked all the computers, and Ms. Maria was standing at his side. Natasha was right, as always. I ran up to the two with a smile on my face and I copied that thing I saw others doing. I believe that Natasha called it a salute.

"Agent Elena, reporting for duty!" _hehe, duty. What a funny word_. I giggled a little as I held up my hand to my forehead. Ms. Maria smiled a little as she looked at me while Mr. Fury smirked before saluting back.

"At ease soldier." He said. I was guessing that I could put down my hand so I did while Natasha finally caught up and stood next to me. Mr. Fury's eye stared me up and down. Natasha told me that I was being 'examined' when he did this, and that it wasn't a big deal. Except when some strange man does it, then Natasha told me they were 'perverts' and I was allowed to beat them up. She told me to hit them in the spot between their legs and then make a break for it.

After Mr. Fury was done examining me he smiled.

"You look like you're doing well Elena. Are you happy?" He questioned. I smiled and nodded my head.

"Yup! Tasha took me to see a movie yesterday. It was about toys that came alive! I wish my toys did that; they would be so much more fun. But, Tasha told me that it was only 'fiction' and that toys didn't really talk like that, so that's sad." I finished with a slight frown before looking up at Mr. Fury.

"Do you think that toys come alive?" I questioned the man. He shook his head.

"No, I'm afraid that they don't Elena." He stated. I let out a huff that blew my bangs up.

"I thought so. Tasha's never wrong, but I was hoping that she was this time." I pouted as I kicked the floor before shaking my head and looking back up, a smile once again on my face.

"But, that's okay! Cause they're still fun, especially Larry. He's my new teddy bear that Tasha bought me." I explained happily. Larry was the best. He was soft and squishy. I noticed that Natasha and Ms. Maria both had weird smiles on. Looking around, I could see that some of the other agents were looking at me with the same smile. Most of them were women too.

"What?" I questioned as I tilted my head. Everyone seemed to shake their heads and go back to what they were doing. Girls are weird sometimes. Natasha and Ms. Maria were still smiling a little, but thankfully Mr. Fury pulled them out of it with his voice.

"Anyways, I just wanted to make sure that you and Agent Romanoff were settling in okay, and I wanted to introduce you to some people. Is that okay?" He asked as he walked over to some screen and entered in a message. I nodded.

"Sure, as long as they don't rub my head." I shrugged. Natasha chose that exact moment to rub my head. I glared at her as I fixed my hair. I heard that when people repeatedly do something that they know you don't like, they're trying to annoy you. Based on the smirk that Natasha had, I'm guessing that she was doing that.

I looked over towards the doors as they opened and a man stepped in. He had really short brown hair and was wearing a suit. I stared at him.

"Don't you get hot in that mister? I feel like that'd be really uncomfortable. Oh, or are you getting married? I saw a video about a wedding a few days ago and everyone was wearing suits. Congratulations!" I announced with a smile. Natasha, Ms. Maria, and Mr. Fury all sighed and shook their heads.

"She really goes off, doesn't she. How do you deal with her 24/7?" Ms. Maria asked Natasha who shrugged.

"It's an art. You just have to be prepared to talk about a hundred different topics all at once." She explained. I looked over at them in confusion before looking back at the suit guy who was staring at me in confusion and shock.

"Uh, sir? Why is there a child here?" he asked. Mr. Fury walked up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Coulson, meet Elena. She's your subordinate's new charge." He stated as he pointed over at Natasha who waved at Mr. Coulson. Mr. Coulson on the other hand merely stared at me with wide eyes. He began examining me and I frowned. _Does he count as a strange man?_ I looked at Natasha in question.

"Tasha, is he a pervert?" I asked. Immediately I could hear people laughing by the computers. Ms. Maria was hiding her smile behind her hand while Mr. Fury and Natasha were smirking. Mr. Coulson shook his head, staring at me in confusion before Natasha shook her head.

"No Elena, it's okay. He's a friend just like Fury." She explained. I nodded in understanding before going up to the man and holding out my hand.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Coulson! My name's Elena." I smiled. He stared at me for a little longer before a smile spread on his face.

"Nice to meet you Elena. And, please call me Coulson." He said as he shook my hand. I tilted my head as I stared at him in confusion.

"But, isn't that a no-no? I heard that kids have to always have labels in front of adult's names. And, if they don't they get punished." I explained. That's what I learned from the bad men. They never liked me saying any of their names. Everyone seemed to stare at me until Natasha knelt down next to me.

"Did the bad men teach you that?" She questioned. She seemed kinda mad so I nodded sheepishly. Mr. Coulson looked confused at that, but Mr. Fury said that he'd explain it later. Natasha ignored them as she continued.

"It's okay if the adult says that it's okay. No one's going to punish you for it. But, if it makes you feel better, you can call him…Uncle Phil." She seemed to smirk at Mr. Coulson as she said this. He sighed, but smiled at me.

"It's okay if you call me Coulson, or Uncle Phil." He stated. I put my hand up to my chin in thought.

"Hm…Uncle Phil." I decided with a smile. Natasha smiled smugly and Uncle Phil sighed, but smiled at me anyways. I looked over at Ms. Maria and tilted my head as a thought crossed my mind.

"Does that mean that I can call you Aunt Maria?" I asked. She looked surprised for a minute, but she smiled at me soon after.

"Of course you can." She said as she nodded. I smiled back before turning towards Mr. Fury.

"Hm…you're the boss of everyone here, right?" I questioned. He looked confused, but nodded.

"Everyone, but the council." He stated. I nodded before continuing.

"If you're the boss, then you're like the dad of everyone here. But, I'm a lot younger than the other people so that doesn't count for me." I mused. Everyone just continued to stare at me confused. I looked back at Mr. Fury.

"…You're Grandpa Fury!" I announced proudly. Silence covered the room before laughing emerged from the agents at the computers. Aunt Maria, Natasha, and Uncle Phil were all smirking too. Grandpa Fury merely stared at me before sighing.

"There's no chance that you'll go back to Mr. Fury?" He questioned. Immediately my smile was wiped off of my face and tears filled my eyes.

"You * _sniff*_ don't like it?" I asked tearfully. Unknown to me, Natasha, Aunt Maria, Uncle Phil, and all the agents in the room were sending death glares at Grandpa Fury for making me cry. Grandpa Fury sighed before rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"No, no. I like it. I can be your…Grandpa Fury." He groaned out the last part. Immediately a smile lit up my face and my eyes cleared of any tears.

"Yay!" I cheered as I ran at him and hugged his legs. He just patted my head. I preferred patting to rubbing. Suddenly the doors opened again and my attention was drawn to another man. He had short brown hair, but it was longer than Uncle Phil's. The man wore a leather vest thing and he had a bow with arrows on his back. _Bow and arrows…I've seen this before!_

"Robin Hood?!" I shouted as I pointed at the man. He merely stared at me like I was crazy before looking up at Grandpa Fury.

"Who's the kid?" He questioned. Grandpa Fury merely sighed _again._

"Barton, meet Elena. Romanoff has taken her in." He explained. Mr. Barton's eyes widened as he looked up at Natasha.

"Seriously?" He asked. She just smiled and nodded in response. The man's eyes shifted back to me and he began to examine me. I glared. _Why does everyone do that?!_ I looked over at Natasha with a questioning gaze as I pointed a finger at Mr. Barton. She looked between us before an evil smirk spread on her face and she nodded in affirmation. I nodded. _Pervert confirmed._

I walked up to the man before stopping right in front of him. He looked at me in confusion as we locked eyes. I merely smiled up at him innocently, before punching him right between the legs.

* * *

"You know Clint, if a little girl can get the drop on you I think you're losing your touch." Natasha smirked as Mr. Clint grabbed the ice pack from an agent before carefully placing it between his legs. He looked up and glared at Natasha.

"How was I supposed to know that she'd punch me right out of the blue?!" He whined. I tilted my head.

"Because you're a pervert. Tasha said to always go for between the legs." I explained. He stared at me with wide eyes before glaring at Natasha again.

"You little-!"

"Good work Elena. You took down the pervert." I looked behind me to see Aunt Maria with a smirk on her face.

"Yes, he was one of the biggest perverts around." Uncle Phil added. Mr. Clint looked between them, a betrayed look on his face. He turned towards Grandpa Fury in desperation.

"C'mon Fury! Explain it to her!" He complained. Grandpa Fury kept a neutral expression.

"…He was quite the hassle." He finally stated. Mr. Clint groaned again and slumped in his chair as I smiled proudly. Natasha smirked again before patting my shoulder.

"Don't worry now Elena. He's not a pervert anymore." She stated. I looked up at her in confusion.

"He's not?"

"Nope, he's now a new man thanks to you. All because you punched him in the right spot." She explained. I nodded in understanding before walking up to Mr. Clint and patting him on the leg.

"Make good choices Mr. Clint." I stated simply. That seemed to set everyone off as they began laughing. I looked around in confusion as Mr. Clint merely grumbled. I looked up at Uncle Phil as he and Grandpa Fury were the only two not laughing.

"Uncle Phil, what's so funny?" I questioned. He merely shook his head with a smile. Mr. Clint suddenly sat up.

"Wait, he's Uncle Phil?" He questioned. I nodded.

"Yeah, and she's Aunt Maria and he's Grandpa Fury." I explained as I pointed at the two. Mr. Clint began laughing when he heard 'Grandpa Fury', but after he calmed down he smiled and pointed at himself.

"What about me kiddo? Can I be Uncle Clint?" He asked excitedly. I thought about it for a moment before shrugging.

"Sure! You can be Uncle Clint." I announced with a smile. He cheered before picking me up and flying me around. I laughed. Now that he's not a pervert, Uncle Clint is pretty cool. After he set me down he began to rant.

"This is awesome! Now I can teach someone to shoot arrows too! I bet you'll love it! Oh, me and you could go flying in the quinjet and shoot some targets from up there! I could get you your own mini-bow!" He shouted excitedly. His rant was cut short as Natasha smacked him over the head.

"Calm down you oversized toddler. She's just 7. She has time before getting into that stuff." She stated as she placed her hands on her hips. Meanwhile, I was playing around with an arrow that I had snagged from Uncle Clint's bag. Aunt Maria was the first to notice me.

"Uh, little late for that Romanoff. I think she's going to stab someone with that." She stated as she pointed at me. I pouted as Natasha walked over to me and took the arrow, giving it back to Uncle Clint. Then a thought struck me.

"I don't have a label for Tasha!" I shouted in alarm. _I can't believe that I didn't give one to Tasha!_ They all looked over at me in surprise as I shouted out, before Natasha shrugged.

"I don't really need a label. I'm fine with Tasha." She stated. I shook my head and she sighed.

"I could just be Aunt Tasha then." She suggested. I shook my head again, it just didn't sound right. Uncle Clint sniggered.

"How about Grandma Tasha?" He added. Natasha immediately shut him up with a glare before turning towards me with a smile.

"I'm really fine with whatever Elena." She stated. I thought about it. Natasha takes care of me. She feeds me, gives me bubble baths, and buys me toys. She smiles at me and she protects me. What label would define Natasha? Then a thought hit me. I had seen it before in movies, I was also taught about it from the bad men. Natasha fit all the definitions, so why not?

"…Mommy." I tried out the word as I thought about Natasha and I smiled as it fit. _It's decided!_ I hadn't realized that everything had gone quiet.

"…What'd you say?" Natasha asked with wide eyes. I looked around. Everyone seemed either shocked, or in Aunt Maria and Grandpa Fury's cases, smug. I looked back up at Natasha, or should I say, mommy with a smile.

"Mommy. You're now mommy." I stated resolutely. Everyone's gazes went from me to mommy as they watched for her reaction. She was still staring at me, shocked. My smile slipped off my face again.

"Is…is it no good?" I questioned shyly as I fiddled with the front of my shirt. That seemed to snap her out of her thoughts and she let a weak smile spread on her face.

"No, I think I can deal with 'mommy'." She said warmly. I smiled up at her again before I gave her a quick hug. Just like last time, it took her a few seconds to respond. I decided that I'll work on giving her hugs more, just like the smiles. After all, now that she's my mommy I can hug her lots more!

* * *

 **3** **rd** **Person POV:**  
Natasha was inwardly freaking out as she left Elena with Fury and Maria to take a 'bathroom break'. _Mommy._ That foreign word that Elena had used earlier. Natasha had no idea how to be a mother. She couldn't remember her own and the people in the Rooms weren't exactly the best examples. She knew a dozen ways to kill someone with a simple household appliance, but she had no idea how to be the maternal figure for a child.

Clint had followed Natasha out a minute after she left and had found her leaning on the wall and staring ahead blankly. He sighed as he rubbed the back of his head before he pointed back into the room with his hand.

"The kid really likes you." He stated simply. Natasha stayed silent as she barely blinked at his presence. He walked over and leaned on the wall next to her.

"I go just a few weeks without seeing you and when I do you have a kid. They grow up so fast." Clint pretended to wipe a fake tear from his eye as he watched Natasha for a reaction. He wasn't disappointed as he saw her flinch as she responded.

"I can't do this Clint. I should've never agreed to take her in…" She mumbled as she shook her head. Clint sighed. He was expecting this.

"Nat, do you care for Elena?" Natasha seemed a little surprised at the question, but she nodded in affirmation a second later.

"Do you want her to be happy?" Another nod.

"Then what's holding you back? I can honestly say that you've smiled more times in just a few minutes with her, than you have the whole time you've been here. Elena wants you to be her mom and I get the feeling that you want the same thing, so what's stopping you?" he questioned as he turned to face her. Natasha rubbed her forehead with a groan.

"I'm an assassin Clint. I can't be the stable housewife that most kids have for mothers. I can't be there for her all the time because I'll have missions. If word gets out about Elena, she'll become a target and I don't want that for her." She explained. Clint merely shrugged.

"From what Fury told me she's already a target anyways. Having you with her would be a bonus addition to security. She doesn't care that you're not the typical mom. It's not like she's the typical kid either. And, she'll have other people there for her too. You don't need to do this alone, Nat. I can be her cool Uncle Clint after all! She'll have Coulson, Maria, and maybe even Fury if need be." He countered. Natasha huffed. She hated when he made sense. She was running out of arguments and he could see that.

"I just…can't Clint." She tried again, but she wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him, or herself.

"Natasha," She looked up at him. If he was using her full name, he was getting serious. "This is what she wants, it's what you want, and it's what the rest of us want too. Will it be easy? No, of course not, but don't you at least want to try? Elena doesn't expect you to act like a normal mom anyways. Plus, she's never had one before to compare you to. It will be a completely new experience for the both of you. You'll have lots of support, Fury will probably give you more time off, and Elena seems like she won't be a difficult child. I promise you that you'll regret it if you don't do this, and I don't think you could get rid of that kid even if you tried." He finished his little rant with a smirk.

Natasha sighed. It really sucked that Clint was being the logical one for once. She had no more reasons to fight this, but a part of her was still reluctant to take on the responsibility of having a kid. But, then again what had she been doing these past weeks? She realized that it wasn't having the responsibility of a kid that scared her; it was having the responsibility of being a mom.

She's the one who chose to take in Elena, and did she honestly regret it?...No. Natasha looked up at Clint.

"…You're right." She mumbled. Clint's smirk grew wider as he held up one hand to his ear.

"I'm sorry, what was that? Clint, you're the most awesome person in the world and I'm so glad that you finally got me to pull my head out of my ass? Aw, no problem Nat!" he patted her shoulder with a smile.

After leaving a groaning Clint on the floor, Natasha walked back into the room.

* * *

 **Elena's POV: 1** **st** **Person**  
"Elena, where did you get that knife?" Aunt Maria asked as I jumped onto the table and began ordering adults around just like Grandpa. I even taped a piece of black paper over my eye to complete the look. I looked down at the pointy thing in my hand before looking back up at her.

"I grabbed it from Uncle Clint's boot! He has a lot of them, but I liked this one the best!" I announced with a smile. Uncle Clint had a knife in his other boot, but it wasn't as shiny. Speaking of Uncle Clint, I wonder how long him and mommy are gonna spend in the bathroom. They've been gone for a bit now.

"Aunt Maria, when are Uncle Clint and mommy coming back?" I asked as I looked up at the tall woman. She smiled down at me before rubbing my hair. _I really hate that…_

"Any minute now kiddo. Sometimes adults just need a little longer break." She explained. I nodded. I understand that. Sometimes the toilet doesn't flush all the way and I have to wait for the water to fill back up before trying again.

One time I dropped my ducky in and flushed it 'accidentally' and the toilet water filled up and fell onto the floor. Mommy told me that it was clogged and that we needed a plumber to fix it. I wasn't allowed to use that toilet for a couple more days. I wonder if Uncle Clint or mommy dropped a toy down the toilet. I don't think that mommy would, but Uncle Clint might.

I looked over at the doors as they opened and mommy stepped through. Uncle Clint followed a second later, but his face was red. _Maybe he's embarrassed because he dropped his toy down the toilet and mommy had to call the plumber…_

I walked up to Uncle Clit and tilted my head. "Uncle Clint, did you drop a toy into the toilet?" I asked. He stared at me in confusion.

"What?"

"You and mommy were out in the bathroom for a while, so I thought that you had clogged the toilet and mommy had to call the plumber. I did that one time and the toilet water fell onto the floor. It was gross." I frowned as I remember the accident. Uncle Clint seemed to understand what I was talking about and nodded.

"Yeah, I wasn't careful enough with my toys. But, I learned my lesson. Never drop toys into toilets. You'll remember that too, right?" He kneeled down next to me. I nodded my head.

"Of course! I don't want mommy to have to call the plumber again. He 'examined' me. I was gonna ask mommy if he was a pervert but she had to leave the room to take a call." I explained as I gave the knife back to Uncle Clint. Everyone went quiet again and I wondered if I made them mad or something. I looked around at everyone's faces and most of them were glaring. Uncle Clint paused before grabbing my shoulders and turning me to face him.

"Elena, if you're mommy isn't in the room and a strange man that you don't know is examining you, you have the right to punch him like you did me. In fact, we can find his contact information and I can hit him for you." He smiled evilly as he finished his sentence. Mommy pulled out her phone before hitting a few buttons and showing the screen to the others.

"I've found where he lives and all his personal files. I can make it so that man can never 'examine' anything ever again." She added with a completely blank expression. I looked at them confused. Aunt Maria sighed and rubbed her head.

"Aren't you two getting a little ahead of yourselves? The poor man didn't actually _do_ anything, so I don't think that you can justify assaulting him." She stated. The two of them looked between each other before reluctantly putting away the weapons that they had been gathering.

"I hate to think what will happen to the poor sucker that breaks Elena's heart when she's older…" Uncle Phil muttered from behind me. I really had no idea what was going on here, but having your heart broken sounds like it'd hurt. Don't you need your heart to live? I was broken out of my thoughts as Grandpa cleared his throat.

"Now that Barton and Coulson have met Elena, there's something else I wanted us to do."

* * *

"Uh, is this really a good idea?" Uncle Clint asked. We were standing on the top of the base. It was a pretty good height. Grandpa had me take my wings out when we got there, but they had to cut holes in the back of my shirt for that. I made sure to take off my jacket. I didn't want them cutting holes in that. He wants to find out how well I can fly and stuff like that. I've never flown before, so I'm a little nervous.

"She'll be fine. The doctors told me that her wings are fully capable of flight." Grandpa shrugged. That seemed to relax Uncle Phil and Aunt Maria, but mommy and Uncle Clint still had frowns on their faces. I stepped towards the edge of the building nervously as I stretched out my wings. I flapped them a few times just to try them out. Just as I was about to jump off, a hand stretched out and gave me a shove and I heard shouts.

"Fury!"

Next thing I know, the wind is rushing by my face and I began screaming as the ground got closer. _I'm gonna go smoosh! I'm gonna die-oh wait, I have wings!_ I forced myself to spread out my wings and instantly I went into a glide. I breathed out in relief, before realizing that I still had no idea how to control these things and I was still going down very fast. I leaned up as far as I flapped a few times. My wings kept on tilting in the wind and I had trouble telling up from down as I spun.

"Okay, lean left-! Ack! I'm sorry birdie! No I don't want to go down! Weeee! Loop-de-loops!" I giggled as I began flying upside down and going in loops. Flapping my wings a few times I made myself go higher. This was fun! I love flying now that I wasn't going to go smoosh! I flew back to the building and began to try and land.

"Ah! Thanks Uncle Clint for being a good cushion!" I smile. I ended up crashing straight into him after Uncle Coulson had leaped out of the way. He just groaned in response as I stood back up. I shook out my wings before giggling.

"I'm gonna do that tons more! Mommy, we live on that hill! I can totally fly off of that!" I announced as I jumped up and down excitedly. I could fly like a bird! Speaking of birds, I felt terrible about that bird I crashed into earlier. Poor guy never knew what hit him.

Mommy merely sighed and rubbed her head again. "Fury, I blame this on you. I'm not going to be the one who has to chase her down all the time." She groaned.

"Hey, mommy? Uncle Clint's not waking up! Oh, do you think he'd wake up if I dropped him off the building?"

"Hm…"

"Romanoff, I worry about what you're going to teach that kid…"

* * *

 **That's a wrap on Chapter 2! I hope you enjoyed! Again, sorry that these first couple of chapters are kinda slow. The action won't really start until a couple more chapters in. This is mostly focusing on Elena's first experiences with SHIELD and her childhood.**


	3. Chapter 3: Birthdays and Gifts

**Chapter 3: Birthdays**

 **Hey guys! Here's the 3** **rd** **chapter of the story! There's been a time skip of about a year. Now we'll get to see more on what SHIELD has in store for Elena, as well as some nice family fluff. The main storyline starts next chapter with Iron Man 2, so this stuff is just background. I hope you enjoy! –Cleo  
**

* * *

"Mom, I'm home!" I shouted as I closed the door behind me. It has been exactly a year since my mom found me and I was enjoying things. They started sending me to school in September, four months after I came to SHIELD.

I liked school. I got to make friends and schoolwork was super easy because of my 'super-brain'. Uncle Phil told me that I learn twice as fast as others, so that's cool. I also started calling my 'mommy', mom. I heard that only little kids still call their moms 'mommy', and I'm not a little kid no matter what Uncle Clint says!

My teachers at school even say that I talk like I'm older. Aunt Maria said that it was because my brain was picking up on how all the adults talk around me and was copying them. One time I said a bad word and my mom got mad at Uncle Clint for saying it around me in the first place. I don't think that she realized that they all said it multiple times.

I was fully healthy again too. Grandpa told me that I would probably start growing more because my body was finally getting the right…nutri-ants? Something like that. He was right. I grew 3 inches!

Mom told me that I'd also be a lot stronger because I had super-genes. One time I accidently snapped my pen right in half because I held it too hard. That was fun to explain to the teacher. I had gotten super good at flying too! Grandpa didn't let me practice out in the open because people could see me, but I got to fly in the secure field behind the SHIELD building.

"Mom?" I questioned again as I walked into our house. Mom should be home today. She didn't say that she had another mission, so where was she? I walked into the dark living room and right as I turned on the lights…

"Surprise!" I jumped backwards with a squeak as Uncle Clint jumped out from behind the couch and tackled me to the floor. He quickly got me in a headlock and began to rub his fist on my head.

"Miss me squirt?" He questioned as he squeezed the life out of me. I would've given him a reply, but I was currently unable to breathe.

"Clint, please let my daughter breathe." Mom sighed as she stepped out from the kitchen. Grandpa, Uncle Coulson, and Aunt Maria also stepped out from random hiding spots. They weren't agents for nothing. Uncle Clint pouted but released me. I immediately gasped and took deep breaths.

"Mom, can I trade in this uncle for a different one? I don't want him anymore." I stated once I began to breathe normally. I flinched and glared at my uncle as he flicked my head.

"C'mon kid, after I came over here bearing a gift?" He asked as he held up a bag. I tilted my head in confusion.

"Gift? Why are you guys here anyways?" I questioned as I looked around the room. They had never all come to our house before. Usually Uncle Clint or Uncle Phil came over to watch me while my mom went on a mission. But Uncle Clint was sometimes with her though, so Uncle Phil would normally be the one to watch me.

He let me eat extra dessert and I could get him to do things for me simply by giving him my puppy eyes. My puppy eyes only work on my uncles. My mom is immune. Grandpa and Aunt Maria have learned to look away before I catch them. My uncles also let me have caffeine once. We all agreed never to do it again.

"Well, today's your birthday. I had them all come over to celebrate." Mom explained as she walked over to us. I was still confused.

"My birthday? But, I thought that we didn't know when my birthday was." I stated. Had they not told me that they found out what it was? Grandpa decided to take over.

"We didn't, but you needed to have some sort of birthday. Romanoff decided to have it be the day she first brought you in. Supposed to symbolize your new start in life. Bit too sentimental if you ask me." He grumbled the last part. I rolled my eyes. Everything's too sentimental for Grandpa. Uncle Clint snorted.

"Hah, she's even got your eye-roll down Nat!" He announced. "You know, with her eyes she could really pass off as your biological kid." Mom and I looked at each other. We did look kinda alike and I had picked up some of her habits. I smirked like her and I apparently rolled my eyes like her. Uncle Clint mentioned that I was beginning to pick up her sarcastic wit and that I had the same posture. Appearance wise, my eyes were practically identical to hers and I also had a similar skin tone. My blonde hair was the only striking difference.

"I'm just glad she didn't pick up much from you Barton." Aunt Maria interjected with a smirk. The others nodded in agreement. Apparently me picking things up from Uncle Clint was a bad thing. I smirked as Uncle Clint shouted in protest. My mom smiled as she walked over to me and rubbed my hair. I sighed. I gave up trying to stop her from doing that. Every time I try to stop her she just does it more.

"Anyways, you ready to start your party?"

* * *

"How the hell?!" I giggled as Uncle Clint threw down his Wii remote with a yell. We were playing Mario Cart and I just got first place, for the 6th time. Mom and Aunt Maria were glaring at the TV screen as they came in 3rd and 4th. The adults started out by taking turns, but Grandpa and Uncle Phil stopped playing after they said that they're too old for video games. I think that they just got tired of getting their butts kicked.

"How did you beat me?! I was in front of you by so much!" Uncle Clint whined as he flopped onto the ground. I just smiled and shook my head.

"A true master never reveals their secrets." I stated. Actually, I had just taken a few shortcuts. Let it be known, that master spies and assassins are not masters of videogames.

"The physics are so off in this game. I shot that turtle shell at the perfect angle to hit Peach." Aunt Maria said as she looked down at her remote with a glare.

"I still don't get why I can't just crash the other cars into the walls by bumping into them." Mom added as she tossed her remote to the side.

"It's just a videogame. I don't think that exploding cars with Mario characters are very kid friendly." I said with a shrug. Uncle Clint lifted his head off the floor to look at me.

"You're a kid and we let you see all kinds of explosions." He countered. I tilted my head and placed my hands under my chin in the 'I'm innocent' pose.

"I'm special."

"Or, we just are terrible at censorship for kids…" Uncle Phil muttered as he rubbed his forehead. Everyone ignored him.

"So, anyone up for some cake?" Mom asked as she stood up. I smirked. This was her escape from the videogame. Everyone else seemed to agree with her and stood up as well. I shrugged. I could always beat them later.

* * *

"Nice choice in cake Nat." Uncle Clint stated as he stuffed his face with a huge slice of the chocolate ice cream cake. I nodded in agreement as I scooped another piece into my mouth. It tasted like chocolate heaven. Mom rolled her eyes.

"Don't talk with your mouth full Clint. And Elena, you have chocolate all over your face." She sighed as she reached over with a napkin and began to rub at my mouth. I tried to get away, but she held my head in place.

"It's like you have two kids." Aunt Maria smirked as she looked between the three of us. I glanced over at Uncle Clint before looking over at her and holding my hands up in an 'X'.

"Nope, no way am I gonna have him as a brother. Plus, she's my mom and I'm not gonna share her with him." I huffed as I crossed my arms with a glare. Uncle Clint stared at me with wide eyes at my statement.

"Looks like she's quite the mommy's girl, Romanoff." Grandpa stated with a smirk. Mom just rolled her eyes.

"What did you expect her to be? A daddy's girl?" That seemed to break Uncle Clint out of his shock.

"Hey! I knew her before you did squirt! And, where's the love for your favorite uncle?" He asked. I stared at him before turning towards Uncle Phil.

"He's right. I'll share my mom with you Uncle Phil." Everyone chuckled as Uncle Clint gaped at us.

"That's alright Elena. You can keep your mom to yourself." Uncle Phil interjected with a smile. I nodded in agreement before hopping out of my chair, walking over to my mom's chair, and wrapping my arms around her as I sat sideways in her lap. I stuck my tongue out at Uncle Clint as he glared at me. I saw my mom smile a little before she wrapped her arms around me and kissed my head. I smiled at that. She was finally beginning to be less hesitant about this stuff. I mentally patted myself on the back.

But, I had learned that she had two modes. There's Mommy mode, and then there's Black Widow mode. I think that's what mom said that her nickname was at work. In Mommy mode she hugs me and smiles a lot at me. She's never yelled at me, but she does give a really scary look before counting to 10 if I was still doing something bad. She also lectures me more in that mode.

She rarely ever shows emotion of any kind in Black Widow mode because she has to be all 'hardcore' and tough at work. She still cares about me, but she just hides it better. Uncle Clint told me that I shouldn't be upset if she barely knows I'm there when she's in her work mode, especially when she just gets back from a mission. That actually happened one time.

* * *

 _My eyes flew open as I heard the door slam throughout the house. I sat up sleepily, rubbing my eyes as I turned to look at the clock. 2:36 am. It was really early and still dark outside too. I was about to go back to sleep, thinking that I had imagined the sounds, but then I heard footsteps begin walking up the stairs._

 _I hopped out of bed and grabbed my taser gun that Uncle Phil had given me. Quietly stepping to the door, I twisted the handle and slowly opened it. I poked my head out into the hallway before looking in either direction. My eyes widened in fright when I saw a figure walk towards my mom's room, and I practically deflated in relief when I realized that it was mom._

 _But, I frowned. The stiff way she was walking, the clenched hands, the ragged breaths…something was wrong. I stepped out of my room, no longer worrying about being stealthy, and approached my mom. Her whole body went stiff as she heard my feet get closer._

"… _Mom? Are you ok-?" I was cut off as she suddenly whirled on me, gun in hand. Her eyes are what scared me the most. They were completely blank and empty, not shining like they usually did. They looked dull as they stared at me. I heard the gun cock and instantly crouched down and covered my head, expecting the worst. When it didn't come I looked up curiously. Mom had collapsed onto the floor, completely exhausted.  
_

* * *

After that, I used my wings and super strength to get her into bed. She didn't remember it the next morning and I never brought it up. I figured that she would be better off not knowing. Uncle Clint's really loud voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Elenaaaaa! Don't you want to sit on my lap?" Uncle Clint whined. I smirked a little as a snuggled into my mom more.

"Sorry Clint. I don't think she's going anywhere." My mom stated as she felt my arms tighten around her. Uncle Clint grumbled a little before he smirked.

"Not even…for her present?" He asked as he pulled out the bag from behind his back. I instantly stiffened. I had never gotten a birthday present. I got my first gift on Christmas, but a birthday is special because it's like a celebration just for you. I slowly unwrapped myself from my mom and slipped out of her lap.

"Maybe…" I stated as I walked over to him. He smiled victoriously before picking me up and placing me in his lap. Uncle Phil mumbled something about 'bribery' before leaving the room with Grandpa to go grab their gifts from the living room. The others already had their gifts in the kitchen. Uncle Clint's lap wasn't as comfy as my mom's, or even Aunt Maria's. But, I was doing this for the present.

"Now, what do you say?" He asked as he held the present in front of my face. I rolled my eyes. He didn't seem to understand that I knew about being polite and he took every chance to try and teach me. I let him, if it makes him feel accomplished then whatever.

"Please and thank you." I answered as I took the bag from his hands. I pulled out the tissue paper inside the bag and placed it on the counter before looking inside. I stared at the object in confusion before reaching in and pulling it out. It was a black, metal handle that was wide and slightly curved. It was about as long as my fore arm, but other than the button on its side, it didn't seem all that special.

I looked it over in confusion before clicking the button. I flinched and shut my eyes in surprise as it flicked open. I held it away from my body, expecting Uncle Clint to prank me or something, before cautiously opening my eyes. I gaped as I saw what I was now holding. It was a bow similar to Uncle Clint's, but it was smaller. I turned it over in my hands before experimentally pulling on the wire.

"So, do you like it?" Uncle Clint asked from behind me. I practically squealed before turning around and wrapping my arms around him tightly.

"I love it!" I shouted happily. He laughed as he hugged me back.

"I'm glad, now we can be bow buddies! Look, I even got you your own quiver. Don't worry Nat, It's full of the suction cup arrows." He added once he saw the look on my mom's face. I grabbed the quiver full of 'arrows' out of his hands and immediately jumped up and pulled it over my shoulder.

I pulled out an arrow before hooking it in the wire and pulling it back just as I saw Uncle Clint do it. I took aim and…FIRE! A loud * _smack*_ sounded in the room as the arrow landed smack dab in the middle of Uncle Phil's forehead as he walked back into the room.

"Bullseye!" I cheered as I did a little happy dance. Uncle Phil gave the 'I blame you' glare to Uncle Clint before sighing and pulling the arrow off of his face.

"Just what we needed, another Barton." He stated sarcastically. Uncle Clint ignored him as he whistled.

"Man! That was a great shot for your first time! Just remember to pull the arrow all the way back to your cheek next time." He smiled as he turned to me. I nodded in affirmation before clicking the button again, making the bow retract, and setting down the quiver.

"Watch out Barton, she could take your place." Grandpa said as he smirked at him.

"And you better not take her shooting on the quinjet anytime soon Clint." Mom added with a glare. Judging by Uncle Clint's wide eyes, that was exactly what he was gonna do. That actually sounds awesome. _Oh! I should learn to shoot while flying!_

"I vote we keep Elena and get rid of Barton. We do not need two of them at once." Aunt Maria stated with a sigh. There were nods of agreement.

"Why do you guys hate me so much?"

"You make it too easy Clint."

* * *

I loved all my presents. Grandpa and Uncle Phil gave me a gift that they got together. Mom said that it was because they needed both of their brains to figure out what to get me. They got me a cool pair of metal-rimmed glasses to wear to help me when I'm flying. They keep the wind out of my eyes and they also let me see in the dark. Grandpa said that the glass is also covered in special oil that keeps water from sticking on it, so that I can see when it rains.

It starts out as a little metal thing that I stuck in my ear. Uncle Phil told me that they wanted me to be able to hide it as a Bluetooth. I just clicked it and the metal extended to my other ear and the glass popped down. They're black with a metal rim and I think they look awesome. Uncle Phil said that they wanted me to have cool looking glasses so they modeled the thing after a pair of Nemesis Safety Glasses **(just in case you want to know what they look like)**. Leave it to them to use safety glasses as a model.

Aunt Maria gave me a sketchpad with a special art kit. It had all kinds of things inside! It had paints, oil pastels, colored pencils, charcoal pencils, and a whole bunch of different kinds of pencils to use. I had gotten into art a little bit ago. I was getting pretty good at drawing and painting things and I learned how to do it faster than normal which helped.

I was also learning how to play piano. My mom said that learning music will help in a lot of areas. I think she just wants me to spend time doing something productive with all my time.

Aunt Maria also gave me a bo staff that popped out of a metal cylinder when I pressed a button. Everything their giving me seems to have buttons. She said that it was a weapon that wasn't sharp and that I probably wouldn't be able to hurt myself with. Mom liked it better than Uncle Clint's bow.

My mom's gift was my favorite and not just because she's my mom. She got me a miniature version of her catsuit. But, unlike my mom's suit, this one was sleeveless. It also had little slits in the back for my wings. They weren't big enough to be too noticeable at first glance, but they weren't so small that it'd be uncomfortable. I got a little utility belt and a pair of the leather shoes. She also gave me a pair of fingerless gloves that went up to my elbows.

She said that I didn't have to worry about outgrowing the suit because it was made of a special material that would adapt to my form. That was awesome. I'm glad that it doesn't look exactly like hers because that's like her signature look and now I get my own. I probably won't use Uncle Clint's bow as my main weapon for the same reasons.

I immediately left to put everything on. I hooked Grandpa and Uncle Phil's gift in my right ear, I put on my mom's gift, and I clipped the bow and bo staff handles into my belt so I could grab either one quickly. I walked back into the kitchen giggling as I clicked the button around my ear, extending the glasses. Everyone turned to look at me with smiles as I posed all epic-like.

"You look like a real agent Elena." Uncle Phil said as he took in my appearance. Grandpa nodded his approval.

"They grow up so fast." Uncle Clint pretended to wipe a tear from his eyes and Aunt Maria rolled her eyes at him before smiling at me. My mom walked up to me and pulled me into a hug.

"You're going to be the best agent SHIELD has." She stated with a proud smile. I smile back brightly as I wrapped my arms tightly around her. I doubt that I'd ever be able to be better than her. Suddenly Grandpa sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry to ruin the mood, but there is a reason all of us have given you gifts that will be useful in combat Elena."

* * *

"So I'm allowed to start training now?" I asked with wide eyes. Grandpa said that because I was now fully healed and healthy, I would be able to begin basic combat training. I wasn't allowed to train with any guns or knives yet, but I was going to start hand-to-hand training.

"That's right. Because you're a target at such a young age, you're going to need to know how to defend yourself. It won't be anything extensive until you're older, but you're still going to need to work hard. We won't start until summer vacation though. This way you'll have plenty of time with no distractions. We still won't be sending you on missions until you're 18 though, so don't worry about that." Grandpa explained. I nodded

I was excited to start training, but I was also nervous. What if I didn't do well? What if I disappointed them?

Mom seemed to notice my nerves.

"Okay you guys, party's over. Let's let Elena process all this." She stated as she began herding the other towards the door. They all nodded in understanding and began to leave, hugging me on the way out except for Grandpa who just patted my head.

After Uncle Clint disappeared behind the door with a wink, I sighed and went up to my room. I pulled off all my gear and changed into some PJs before plopping onto my bed. I stayed lying there even when I heard my door creak open and felt someone sit on my bed. Fingers began to comb through my hair.

"You okay?" Mom asked as she continued to brush through my hair. I groaned before turning to face her.

"I just feel like I'm gonna do really badly. I've never fought before. Well, I've never done a lot of stuff before." I shrugged as I sat up on the bed.

"No one's expecting you to be a pro right of the bat. We all had to start somewhere. In fact, the first time that Clint fired an arrow he was so bad that he ended up somehow hitting his own foot." She smiled as I giggled at the thought. Uncle Clint, missing? Who knew? I tried to smile up at my mom, but it turned out more like a grimace. She frowned.

"That's not all that's wrong, is it?" She sighed as she examined my face. I looked down. Should I even mention it? I'm just being paranoid anyways. It's nothing, really.

"And, don't you say that it's nothing." Mom added. I stared up at her in surprise. I heard that mothers could read your mind, but I thought it was just a joke. I fiddled with my shirt as I thought about how to word this.

"Well, it's just that…I feel that after training you're going to leave me." I finally muttered out. Mom stiffened in surprised.

"What? Why would you think that?" She questioned, obviously shocked. I sighed.

"You said that you're here to protect me. But, what if I'm able to protect myself? Wouldn't you leave then? And I know that Grandpa wants to be able to send you out on missions a lot more often, so what if he sends you away too." I asked as I felt tears start to build in my eyes. An arm wrapped around my body and I felt myself get pulled into my mom. She hugged me tightly as she rested her chin on top of my head.

"Elena, even when you can protect yourself, I'll be there anyways. Even if you were the strongest person alive I'd be there. Not because I have to be, but because I want to be. And yes, I will go on missions. But, Fury knows that I'm still going to need to be home often. He wouldn't take me away. You're my daughter now and I swear that I'd never leave you, intentionally." Mom stated as she held onto me. I noticed how she added on the word 'intentionally'. And, even though it wasn't a happy thought, I understood that. Instead of commenting on it, I held up my pinky.

"Promise?" I asked with a smile as I looked up at her. She smiled back before locking her pinky with mine.

"Promise."

* * *

We had stayed up a while longer talking about what I had done recently in school. She also gave me tips for when training would begin. I eventually got tired and got ready for bed. I slipped under the covers as mom turned off the lights before pulling the covers up around me, tucking me in.

"Goodnight Elena." She whispered out as my eyes began to droop.

"Night night…Love you mom." I mumbled out as my eyelids closed. There was a long pause before I felt her lips press against my forehead and she responded.

"I love you too, malyutka ( _Little one_ )."

* * *

 **That's a wrap on chapter 3, I hope you enjoyed! Okay in the next chapter there will be another time skip. This one will be a much bigger gap of 5 years. Elena will be 13 and she will enter the Iron Man 2 storyline. Spoilers ahead! Next chapter should be out soon, if not I probably have a good excuse…probably.**


	4. Chapter 4: Accidental Run-in

**Chapter 4: Accidental Run In**

 **Hey guys! Here's the next chapter of the story! This chapter will be during the time of the Iron Man 2 storyline. Elena will be added to the plot, so let's see how this all goes. I hope you enjoy! Reviews are appreciated! –Cleo  
**

* * *

 _6 Years Later…  
_ I sighed as I took a bite out of the chocolate chip cookie that I had just bought at the café. I was wandering around the city and decided to see if I could find any decent places to grab a bite. I had to admit, Malibu was a very nice place.

Mom was doing an undercover mission here for Fury. She brought me along because Uncle Clint and Uncle Phil were both out on a mission, Aunt Maria was busy with some new recruits at the base, and Grandpa was busy doing whatever it is that he does all day. Mom didn't trust anyone else to be able to watch me and keep me out of trouble, so she decided to bring me along. Plus, she said that she wanted to keep an eye on my 'abilities', but that's a topic for later.

She didn't tell me where she was working because, and I quote, "I don't trust you to not come pop in at my work just to mess with me. Honestly, I think I let you hang out with Clint too much…" She was probably right. Other than my mom I spent the most time with Uncle Clint. I ended up picking up a few of his habits too. Hiding in air vents for example is one of my personal favorites.

Over the years I trained with mom and Uncle Clint so I ended up getting a nice mix of their skills. I got my mom's agility and combat skills, while also getting Uncle Clint's skills with the bow. Obviously I wasn't nearly as good as either of them, but maybe someday.

I had also been using the bo staff that Aunt Maria gave me. It was pretty handy when you wanted to knock someone out without any mess. It was also easy to carry. It was my main weapon. I currently had it clipped on my belt. At first glance it looked like pepper spray, so nothing abnormal there.

I had added some adjustments on it too. I coated it in a special metal that I made from purifying different alloys and layering them carefully. The result was a metal that molded to my staff, but was harder than steel. I wish I could get my hands on vibranium, but the last of it went down with Captain America. The metal I had also conducted electricity really well, so I placed some mini shockers on the handle that sent electric shocks down the staff at the press of a button.

I had to stop school about a year ago to keep suspicion away from how fast I was learning. I was already considered a little genius at school, but after I explained quantum physics to one of the teachers, that drew a little too much attention to me. It was a little sad, but I was still allowed to keep in contact with a few of my friends so it wasn't horrible.

When the others were all out on missions I got bored, so I occupied my time by building random gadgets and hacking into some secure places to see how far I could get. I even hacked SHIELD. I couldn't get into most of their files, but that was definitely my goal. The farthest I've gotten is into a few mission files, so nothing major. I'm sure that it would piss off grandpa and that's always fun. It also helped me understand what I was becoming a part of.

I decided years ago to become a SHIELD agent when I was old enough to. I had the option to leave and have myself monitored, or I could stay. Obviously I decided to stay with my family. I was never going to have a normal life, so why not stay and help the people that saved me.

But, I hadn't gone on any real missions because no matter how cold gramps can be, he doesn't believe in child soldiers. Plus, my mom is adverse to me knowing the darker side of SHIELD. She says that she wants me to keep my innocence intact unlike her childhood.

It's not like I don't know about the killings and stuff. I even saw some of it when I hacked into the files. But, I admit that I'm not looking forward to ever having to kill someone. It's like knowing what poison oak is but never having it. You have the knowledge, but not the experience and frankly you don't want it.

I pulled my blonde hair in a high ponytail as I continued walking down the street, sticking the cookie in my mouth so I could use both hands. Suddenly my ears picked up on some voices coming from an alleyway and they didn't sound friendly. Normally, I would ignore them, but the sound of a distressed woman among them made me turn down the alley to take a quick peek.

Once I got there I frowned at the scene. A red-haired (though lighter red than my mom's) woman, who looked to be in her thirties was standing in the middle of the alleyway, back facing me. She looked like some important business woman and she was currently holding a coffee cup. Two sketchy looking men were standing in front of her, blocking her way.

"Please, I don't want any trouble. Just let me through." She said as she stared the men down. I had to give her props for her even tone. You would think she was perfectly calm, but the slight shake in her legs said otherwise. The thug to the left of her raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you want to stay here for a little, pretty lady?" He and his buddy smirked crudely. I had to hold back a gag. _Ugh, men._ Stepping forward I quickly ate the rest of my cookie before latching a hand on the handle of my bo staff.

"Geeze, I'm practically drowning in all this testosterone. I think you guys should let her through." I called out as I neared. The three figures turned towards me, all with different expressions on their faces. The woman looked shocked and frightened at my appearance, the man on the left just frowned, and his buddy looked amused.

"Don't get involved in this! You should get out of here before you get hurt." The woman stated, obviously concerned for my wellbeing. I had to smile at that. She was a nice lady. Now I really wanted to make sure that _she_ didn't get hurt.

"You better listen to the lady, pipsqueak. This is for the big boys, and you're just a little girl." The man to the right laughed as he stared me down. I frowned at him.

"That's sexist and I like to think I'm a _big_ girl now." I stated as I discreetly pulled my bo staff off of my belt. They all looked at me like I was crazy. I walked up to the woman and grabbed her arm.

"You might want to stay behind me." I whispered when she began to protest. She looked at me in confusion, but I just smiled back as I stepped forward.

"Eh, I don't like hurting kids, but I guess I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson." Thug 1 said as him and his buddy prepared to jump at me. I smirked. Thug 1 leaped at me, his fist raised to hit me in the face.

I swiftly ducked under his punch before angling my bo staff under him and clicking the button. The two rods shot out of either side with the top side slamming into thug 1 and launching him up into the fire escape above us all within seconds. He fell to the floor with a thud.

Thug 2 was a little slower than his friend, so while I launched thug 1 into the air, thug 2 was trying to get me from the side. I swept my staff under his legs, tripping him up before spinning the staff around my back and swinging one end at his head like a bat. He was knocked out before he even fell to the floor. Thug 1 groaned on the floor as I walked over while re-clipping the bo staff handle to my belt. I knelt by his head and made sure that he could see me.

"Now, did we learn our lesson? Are you gonna keep pestering girls from now on?" I questioned as I tilted my head. Realizing that the man couldn't exactly respond well, I nodded.

"One grunt for yes, two grunts for no." I supplied. I smiled in satisfaction as he let out two grunts.

"Good, have a cookie. I hope I don't see you again." I stated as I pulled out an extra cookie that I had in my pocket and placed it onto the man's back. Standing up I brushed myself off before turning to face the shocked woman.

"Are you okay Miss?" I asked as I scanned her for injuries. I was glad that she didn't have a scratch on her. She stared at me for another minute before shaking her head.

"Uh, y-yeah. I'm good. Thank you so much for that." She smiled at me as her shock faded into gratitude. I shrugged.

"It was my pleasure. Someone has to put guys like these in their place." I smiled. She nodded in agreement before looking back down at the thugs.

"But, really, you were a big help. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't been there. Is there any way I can repay you?" She asked sincerely. I looked at the cookie that I had given thug 1.

"Another cookie would be nice." I replied jokingly. My eyes widened in surprise as the lady nodded before grabbing my hand and beginning to lead me to the other end of the alleyway.

"No problem. We have the best bakers back at my boss' place. I actually have to go there anyways to meet up with someone to get some papers. As long as you don't have someone waiting for you, I can take you there." She replied casually as she led me to a…limo?! Who the hell was this woman?

"Uh, no I'm not expected to be home for a while…but you just met me. Is it really the best idea to just take me with you? For all you know I could be some crazed psychopath! Or you could be some sort of kidnapper." I protested as we approached the car. She turned to face me with a raised eyebrow.

"If you insist, I could prove that I'm not a kidnapper. Are you a psychopath?"

"Okay, I believe you're not a kidnapper even without proof. You're too nice for that. And, no, but I wouldn't want to be a bother-!"

"Please, do this for me. I wouldn't feel better until I knew that I paid you back." She insisted as she opened the door to the car. I sighed as I rubbed the back of my head.

"I'm guessing you won't stop until I agree?" She just smiled innocently, but I knew that I was right. I got into the limo and sat down on the leather seat as the woman entered the car after me and shut the door behind her. She said something about 'Tony's place' to the driver before sitting back in her seat.

"Well, I guess that if I'm letting you kidnap me, I think I should know your name. I'm Eliza Smith." I stated with a smile. I decided to use the alias that SHIELD had created for me in case I ever needed to have one. It was coming in handy now. I held out my hand to the woman and she grasped it firmly.

"My name's Pepper."

* * *

We arrived at a large, beautiful mansion and I could feel my mouth drop. Whoever Pepper's boss was he was loaded! I looked at everything as we entered through the doors and Pepper gave me instructions. "I called the people in the kitchen, so they know that you're coming. Just go through the door to your left and they should be ready for you. I'm going to meet up with my boss, but we can meet up in Tony's gym. Just follow this hallway to your right."

I nodded in understanding as Pepper pointed in the directions to go. Calling her 'Pepper' wasn't hard for me like it used to be. I got used to calling people by their first names a couple years ago. I still called Aunt Maria, Grandpa, and obviously my mom by the same names as before. But, I occasionally switched Uncle Clint for Hawk and Uncle Phil for Coulson. Since I had two uncles I decided to call them by different names. But, for them it was mostly just what they wanted to be called at work.

I waved at Pepper as I walked through the doors to my left and my mouth instantly watered as the heavenly smell hit my nose. A few seconds after walking in, a large man noticed me.

"Oh! You must be the young Eliza that Ms. Potts told me about. She explained the situation and I must thank you again on her behalf. Ms. Potts tends to not pay attention to what's going on around her when she's in her work mode." I smiled at the man as he spoke. He seemed like a nice fellow. I felt like the name 'Pepper Potts' and 'Tony' should've rung some bells for me, but I brushed it off.

"It was my pleasure." I replied as he handed me a plate of warm cookies. He even gave me a glass of milk because he thought I was a 'lovely girl'.

I thanked him for everything before leaving the kitchen and heading down that hallway that Pepper had pointed at earlier. As I walked down the hall I could faintly hear some thuds and a bang just as I entered the room. A woman had pinned a large man in a boxing ring apparently.

"Oh my god!" I heard Pepper yell in alarm as she processed the scene in front of her. A middle aged man let out an impressed sound as he and Pepper stood up. I'm guessing that's he's Tony. Again, I felt some bells ring.

"Happy!" Pepper shouted. I raised my eyebrow. _Okay? Either Pepper's really happy that that guy got pinned, or that larger man is called Happy._ I mused as the smaller man walked over and hit a bell.

"That's what I'm talking about!"

"I-I slipped…" Happy mumbled as he stood back up.

"Really? Looked like a TKO to me." Tony stated. My eyes widened. _Wait a minute…Pepper Potts. Large mansion. Tony_ Stark. _Well, crap._ But, that was all nothing compared to the shock I felt when I realized that the red head that had pinned Happy, looked _very_ familiar. Her eyes widened in shock also when she realized that I was standing in the room holding a tray of cookies and a glass of milk.

"Double crap…" I mumbled as I stared at my mom. She gaped at me for a moment before catching herself and schooling her expression. Pepper looked between us, confusion on her face.

"Do you two know each other Eliza?" she asked as she turned towards me. I could see my mom's confusion at my name before realization filled her eyes. She was one of the people that helped set up my back up identity after all. I turned to Pepper to answer her question.

"Uh, yeah. She's a friend of my mom's." I explained. We had decided a while ago that when undercover the fewer ties we had to each other, the better. It was a bit late to act like we didn't know who the other was, so I went with the next best thing. Now I just had to figure out what name she was going by so I didn't mess it up.

Glancing over at the table that Tony Stark was just sitting at, I glared as I saw pictures of my mom in lingerie that were open. _Well, he's a pervert and immediately on my bad side for now._ But, it was also helpful. I saw the name 'Natalie Rushman' in the search engine. I nodded to myself. I knew which alias she was using now. Pepper seemed to accept my answer but Tony looked very confused.

"Wait, so who's the kid?" He asked as he pointed at me. Pepper's eyes widened as she realized that I hadn't been introduced.

"Oh, right! Tony, this is Eliza Smith. She saved me earlier when I was on my way to the car from the coffee shop. A couple of men were giving me a hard time, but Eliza showed up and took care of them." She explained with a smile. Tony's eyes widened slightly in alarm as he turned towards Pepper.

"You're okay though, right?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant. I smirked at that. _Aww, Tony Stark has a heart._ Pepper's smile brightened at his inquiry before she nodded in affirmation. Tony nodded before turning towards me. He looked me over for a second before his eyes locked on my hip.

"What do you have there? It doesn't look like your ordinary toy." He stated as he pointed over at my bo staff handle. I pulled it off my belt and clicked the first button, making the metal rods pop out. I tossed it to him and he caught it in one hand before examining it.

"Hmm...light, strong, and shiny. What type of metal is this? It doesn't seem familiar." He asked as he tapped the rods.

"I'm not exactly sure either. It's a mixture of different ores and alloys. There's some silver, cobaltite, erythrite, iridium, copper, and some other stuff that I have no desire to state. It also conducts electricity exceptionally well." I stated as I took the staff back from him and clicked the second button. Immediately the staff lit up and you could see the electricity run through the thing. Stark whistled.

"Nice, and you made this? How old are you?" He raised his eyebrows as he stared at me.

"Yeah, and I'm 14." I stated with a nod. He seemed to contemplate something before turning towards one of his tables and grabbing a screen the size of a tablet. He turned it on and my eyes widened as it projected holographic images. I heard about Tony's cool toys, but this was sweet.

He clicked around a few places before a larger image popped up. It was of some sort of metal arm piece with a circular laser at the hand. I realized that it was the arm of his Iron Man suit. Tony flicked his finger a few times, removing the outer metal of the arm, before clicking a few buttons. There were a few noticeable differences like missing wires or switched parts in the image. Tony nodded, satisfied, before handing the tablet to me.

"Fix it." He ordered. I stared at him.

"Um, what?"

"This is the flight stabilizer plus repulsor beam. I want you to get it to work." He stated nonchalantly. I grabbed the tablet and sat down at the table placing the tablet on it. Glancing up at Pepper I saw her giving me a sympathetic smile as if to say 'sorry about this, just humor him'. Looking over at my mom I saw her staring at me, watching what I would do. Then, I remembered the fact that I hadn't told her that I tinkered with things at all. She was always gone whenever I did. Well, now's as good of a time as any to show her.

I lifted my hands to the hologram and immediately got to work. I reconnected wires, switched back the misplaced ones, and tweaked the gauntlet here and there. I replaced certain parts with others and added the steel frame to stabilize the kickback. I regulated the repulsor to control power and density. When I was done I handed the tablet back to Tony. He examined my work for a second before smirking at me.

"You know kid; you're actually a lot like me." He stated simply. I tilted my head in confusion.

"How so?"

"The hologram I just gave you was of the old model of my suit. What you just did is about what I did to make it work better." He explained as he pointed at the hologram.

"You're pretty smart for a little kid."

"You're pretty snarky for an old guy, but hey, I don't judge." I retorted. That just seemed to make him smile wider before turning towards Pepper.

"Can we keep her Pepper?" he asked. I crossed my arms with a glare.

"I'm not a dog." I mumbled as Pepper rubbed her head.

"No you can't 'keep' her Tony." She sighed. I kinda felt bad for her. Having to deal with Tony all day seemed like a nightmare. He just shrugged before typing something on his phone. As he was doing that I glanced over at my mom. Her eyes were widened the slightest bit in surprise. She locked eyes with me and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged before smiling back at her unspoken question.

"Sure we can. According to this, Eliza Smith's parents are out of the country for a business trip for an indefinite amount of time. I don't know who she's staying with, but I'm sure we can get their approval. She was out of school at the age of 13 because of unknown reasons, but some other files say that it's because she was a genius. You know, I've always wanted an apprentice. Her being able to kick butt is also a bonus." Tony stated, drawing my attention away from my mom. _Did he really want to make me his apprentice?_ I immediately began planning.

This actually sounded like a really cool idea. Tony would be able to help me in areas that others couldn't and I would get the perks of having the connection to a billionaire. I would also be able to be near my mom at work since she had an undercover job here. Now, I just needed to get rid of the problem of getting permission.

"Actually, I've been staying with Aunt Nat here. I'm sure she's fine with it. This apprenticeship thing sounds really awesome actually. What would it entitle?" I questioned as I shot my mom a glance. She didn't seem very happy with the fact that I was accepting this and the fact that I had basically lied about her being fine with it, so I decided to not make eye contact and turn back to Tony.

"Well, you would stay with me first of all. I would have the responsibility of feeding you, sheltering you, etc. You would also get the privilege of following me around as I work and learning all my awesome tips." He explained before turning towards my mom.

"Actually this works out perfectly. I was thinking of hiring you anyways to be my assistant. You being the babysitter of my apprentice here is very convenient." He smirked and I got the feeling that this was all working out for his benefit. I internally promised to keep him away from my mother.

"Tony, we already talked about this." Pepper stated as she gave him a glare. He merely looked at her with a falsely innocent expression.

"What? I'm just trying to keep the two together Pep. Eliza obviously wants to do this and I'm sure that Ms. Rushman wants to keep an eye on the squirt." He explained. My mom analyzed the situation before turning to Pepper.

"I am actually interested in the job offer Ms. Potts. And, since I'm not Eliza's mom I can't control what she does, but I would like to keep an eye on her if that's okay." She stated. I could see this was working out for her also. She still looked upset at me though. Pepper sighed, knowing that she was backed into a corner. Her maternal side was showing as she didn't want to separate me from my current guardian.

"…Fine, we can talk terms of the job in my office. I really can't control Tony either and it's in his rights as a business man to take in an apprentice. I guess I'll be seeing you around a lot more Eliza. I'll have a room set up for you." She smiled at me warmly. I smiled back, excited to begin.

"Eliza, after I'm done talking with Ms. Potts I'll take you back to the house to pick up your things for your stay here." Mom said as she stared me down. I flinched as I read the message in her eyes. I was in for a stern talking to later. I nodded before waving as they left the room. Turning back to Tony, I smiled.

"So boss, wanna spar?" I asked with a smirk. He smirked back before hopping into the ring.

"Just don't cry when I win young grasshopper."

* * *

After pinning Tony to the mat for the 5th time he called for a break and we sat in his lounge, playing Mario Cart. Let me just say, my skills had only improved during these 6 years.

"Dammit! I will end you Toad!" He shouted as I passed him up at the finish line. He growled before pouting on the couch.

"I hate you." He mumbled as I patted his head.

"It's okay boss, you can still hack better than me." He seemed to brighten up at that comment.

"Oh, speaking of which, I think your first lesson should be-."

"Eliza, time to go." My mom called as she walked into the room. I nodded before standing up and saying my goodbyes to Tony.

"See you soon squirt. Oh, and by the way you should pack something nice. I'm going to Monaco soon for a race and it's more of a formal affair. Did you accept the job Ms. Rushman?" He asked as he turned to face my mom. At her nod of affirmation he smirked and nodded, muttering something about how he knew Pepper would give in. I waved goodbye before leaving with my mom, preparing for a lecture.

* * *

Silence filled the car as my mom stared at the road straight ahead, not even glancing at me. Looking at her face I could tell that she was still in her Black Widow mode. This one was usually safer when it came to lectures. The Black Widow was more calm and mission-focused, but Natasha Romanoff could really get into rants. I fidgeted in my seat as I nervously began sifting through all the excuses and explanations that I could think of in my head.

"You shouldn't have done that Elena." She finally said, still not looking at me. I looked down at my lap.

"…I know." I mumbled.

"You've endangered my mission and yourself by doing this. Do you know how many people want Stark dead? Just because he thinks that he's some sort of war deterrent doesn't make it true. If people find out that he has an apprentice they'll target you for your connection to him and also for any knowledge you might have." Mom ranted as she drove into the driveway of our current home.

"I know." I repeated as I lifted my head to face her. Her hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter as she parked in the garage. Her knuckles were white. Immediately after the garage doors had closed behind us her modes completely switched.

"Stop saying I know when you clearly don't! The KGB are already hunting for you after they heard about Project Revival and now you're practically painting a target on your back for hundreds of Stark's enemies! I have half a mind to drop this mission and take you home right now." She stated angrily as she glared at me. I took a deep breath.

"I do understand mom. I just don't care enough to let it stop me. I'm not going to live in constant fear because of what might happen. I really want to learn under Tony. He's a total genius and it could really help me out. And I'm not a little kid anymore either. I can take care of myself." I said as I glared back at her. She groaned as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"I know you can, but there are a lot of people out there that are stronger than you. And you're only 14." She protested. I nodded.

"I know, but you're going to be there and now Tony is too. It wouldn't look very good if he let his apprentice get killed." I smirked. She fell silent. I waited as she processed everything and analyzed the pros and cons of this situation. I helped her get a job with Stark, I would be closer to her so that she could keep an eye on me, and I would be able to learn a lot under Tony.

On the other hand I was in danger of being targeted by more organizations and I might be influenced by Tony. She looked at me again and I could tell that she knew that she couldn't stop me. Sighing, she opened the car door and stepped out.

"Fine, but you will always stay within my sights. I already managed to convince Pepper to give me a room next to yours." I internally cheered. I knew I could convince her!

 _Yes! Now, to start planning on how to prank Tony…_

* * *

 **That's a wrap on chapter 4, hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will start at the Monaco Race!**


	5. Chapter 5: Stranger on The Road

**Chapter 5: The Stranger on the Road**

 **Hey guys! Here's the fifth chapter of Rising Phoenix, hope you enjoy! I'm hoping that the chapters will get better from now on since I don't have to make up situations to add Elena into the plotline. Sorry if it's not! –Cleo**

 **Thank you Guest for the review!**

 **Disclaimer: I only own the oc  
**

* * *

 _Monaco Race_ **  
**"Smile for the cameras." Tony said as flashes immediately bombarded my vision after we entered the hotel. I smiled as I ignored the urge to flinch and blink. I'm sure that would've made a lovely picture for the cover page. Uncle Clint would've gotten a nice laugh out of it anyways. I was currently wearing a sleeveless, navy blue dress that went a little below my knees, hiding the fact that a few weapons were strapped to my thighs, including my bo staff. **(A/N: I'm not even going to pretend to be good at fashion, so I'll leave any other details regarding the dress up to your imaginations.)**

I followed behind Tony and my mom with Pepper as they began to talk.

"You look fantastic."

"Why thank you very much." I ignored the urge to punch Tony as he ogled my mom. That would've made an even better cover page. 'New Apprentice clocks Stark in the Face'.

"But that's not professional. What's on the agenda?" He asked as he put on his aviators.

"You have a 9:30 dinner."

"Perfect, I'll be there at 11. This us?" He asked as he pointed at a table at the end of the room.

"It can be." Mom replied. Tony nodded.

"Great, make it us." She nodded before calling over a waiter. I followed Pepper as she greeted a man in a suit.

"Mr. Musk, how are you?" She smiled politely while I tried to hide my laughter at the man's name. _Hah, Mr. Smelly…_

"I'm good Pepper. Congratulations on the promotion." The man smiled back kindly as he shook her hand before turning towards me.

"And who might this young lady be?" He asked as he looked back at Pepper.

"This is my new apprentice, Eliza Smith." Tony stated as he walked up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder. Mr. Musk nodded before holding out his hand to me.

"Nice to meet you. You must be something special for Stark to take you under his wing." He said, still smiling.

"Thank you sir." I replied with a smile before Tony pointed over my shoulder at a tray of drinks.

"Oh, mini me, could you go grab me one of those?" He asked with a smile. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Mini me?"

"Yup, you are my apprentice. Therefore you are my mini me." He stated. I rolled my eyes before saying goodbye to Mr. Musk and walking over to the drink lady.

"You better not be drinking." My mom said as she grabbed the drink out of my hand.

"It's not for me, Tony wants it." I explained.

"Good, I don't want a repeat of what happened at Thanksgiving." She stated as she rubbed her temples. I giggled. Hawk had brought a few drinks that day. I didn't know that they were alcoholic so I stole and drank a few when no one was looking. I ended up spouting nonsense about how my uncles were the prettiest princesses of them all and that my mom would be the next king of the world while I ran around with a bra on my head. I somehow got grandpa into a wig and stole Auntie Maria's gun. I threw up before passing out on the floor.

"I don't think anyone wants a repeat of that. I had a killer hangover, but I have to admit the video was funny." I said with a smile. She nodded in agreement with a smirk before pointing over in Tony's direction.

"Don't you have a drink to deliver?" I nodded before waving and walking off. Tony and Pepper were standing with two other people; a nerdy looking business man and a tall blonde that looked like a reporter. I think the nerdy guy was Justin Hammer, the one that Tony said he needed to file a restraining order against.

"-she did quite a _spread_ on Tony last year." Was the first thing I heard as I walked up to them. Pepper was giving quite the nasty look at the blonde.

"And she wrote a story on me as well. That was good." Tony added.

"It was very impressive." Pepper just sounded so sarcastic that I giggled, drawing attention to myself.

"I don't even need to know the full story. Even I'm old enough to read the fine lines." I smirked as I glanced between Tony and the reporter.

"Look what you did Pepper. You're soiling her innocent mind." Tony said as he covered my ears protectively. Pepper and I simultaneously rolled our eyes before she began to walk away. Tony noticed this.

"Don't leave me."

"I'm gonna go wash." She ignored his plea and left. I handed Tony his drink and was about to follow Pepper because I needed to use the restroom, but a hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. I glanced at Tony's pleading expression and sighed. _Or, I can stay._

Hammer wrapped his arm around Tony and everyone began talking at once.

"Hey buddy! How are you?"

"No, don't touch me-."

"So, is this the first time you guys have seen each other since-?"

"This is so awesome."

"This is so awful." Tony fake smiled as a camera came and left. He finally got Justin's arm off of him as the blonde began talking.

"Is this the first time you two have seen each other since the Senate?" She asked.

"Uh, since he got his contract revoked." Tony replied as he began walking back to the table, pulling me with him.

"N-no, it's on hold." Hammer stuttered as he replied. I kind of zoned out for the rest of that conversation. Stuff about what the difference between revoked and on hold. But, Hammer's next sentence drew my interest.

"Well, I was hoping to present something at your expo." He stated as he took a drink. Tony took off his glassed as he looked at the man.

"Tell you what, if you make something that works, I'll be sure to get you a slot." He smiled. Hammer was about to reply, but the blonde cut him off.

"And who is this Mr. Stark?" She asked as she looked over at me. Justin also looked at me with wide eyes, just noticing that I was there.

"Oh, this is Eliza Smith. She's my new apprentice." Tony explained as he patted me on the head. I glared at him.

"Wow, what's it like to be apprenticed under arguably the smartest man?" She asked as she held out her recorder.

"Well, it's definitely interesting. He's very unpredictable except for the fact that he's annoying. That fact always stands. But, he is brilliant which makes up for the flaws. The fact that he has good food doesn't hurt either." I smirked as I glanced at Tony. He rolled his eyes.

"Well, now I know why you accepted the job."

"Yup, only because Pepper gave me cookies." I smiled.

"Mr. Stark, your corner table's ready." Mom said as she walked up behind us. Tony nodded before getting up and walking with her, me trailing behind.

"I-I have a slot, we like to joke-."

"Hammer needs a slot Christine!" Tony cut off Hammer's lie as he shouted over his shoulder. I hid a smirk behind my hand as we walked off. _Tony always has to have the last word._

* * *

My mom went off somewhere after Tony went into the restroom. I waited for him as I leaned against the wall near the restrooms. After a couple minutes he reemerged, but something looked off. There was a certain look in his eyes that seemed almost… _dangerous_ to me. He looked down at me for a minute before speaking.

"Eliza, have you ever wanted to see a race up close and personal?"

* * *

"Tony, this is a really bad idea." I protested as he walked up to the racecar. Cheering fans screamed behind us and I gripped tighter onto Tony's arm so I wouldn't get lost in the sea of people.

"Relax Eliza. I drive fast cars all the time. Besides, what's the point of having a car if you don't drive it?" He smirked as he grabbed the helmet from a worker and got into the car. I sighed, there was no way I could convince him to stop this.

"You get a special front row seat." Tony stated as he pointed at a car in the back of the group. It was another racing car, but this one had two seats. My eyes widened. _Oh he has got to be joking._

"Don't worry kiddo. That car isn't going to actually be racing. I just had this arranged so that you could follow the race. It'll be going a lot slower and at a safe distance behind the rest of the cars. I wouldn't purposefully endanger you like that. Give me a little credit. If you're going to be my mini me you've got to watch and learn up close." He smirked at me before patting my head. I sighed in relief before nodding. That sounded a lot better. No wonder Tony had me change into comfortable clothes before coming out here.

I walked over to the car and waved at the driver. He smiled at me before waving and handing me a helmet. I placed it over my head before stepping into the car. It was bigger and more comfortable than the other cars and it even had a little TV live streaming the race. Tony really thought of everything.

After everyone was set up, the row of red lights began to light up. I felt my heart pounding as the last few began to light. Immediately after they were all lit, the cars all sped off with a burst of speed. My driver started too. While he was still going fast, it was slow enough to be safer and more comfortable. My gaze drifted towards the screen in front of me as my eyes locked onto Tony's car as it sped around turns. _He's an idiot. A brilliant idiot, but an idiot all the same._ I sighed.

We followed the racers as they made twists and turns, trying to pass up the next guy. Suddenly screaming filled my ears and my eyes locked onto the screen in front of me. I gasped as I saw the cameras focused on a man standing in the middle of the road, a flaming car that was cut in two lying around him. He had long hair and was holding what looked like electric whips. But, what really caught my attention was the glowing chest piece that he had strapped to him. _Tony._

I immediately knew that this guy was here for Tony. I hurriedly tapped my driver and motioned to stop. I saw people in the stands screaming and beginning to run away. Judging by the area of the camera, this man was not that far in front of us. I got out of the car before turning towards the driver.

"Turn around and get out of here now! Don't argue with me, just go!" I shouted, running forward. There was a pause before I heard the engine start again and the car drove away. I looked around. There were no cameras on me or near me, and people were too panicked to notice me. Perfect.

I quickly hid by the stands in the shade, out of the public eye. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my Bluetooth/glasses. I stuck it in my ear before clicking it twice. After the glasses formed, another part formed over the rest of my face as a mask. Grandpa added that part for me when I kept on complaining about swallowing bugs.

I didn't want people to know who I was during this. I tied back my hair in a bun before pulling up my hood, hiding my blonde hair. Running forward I pulled out my bo staff, clicking it open as I continued to run. One thought ran through my mind. _My mom's gonna kill me for this…_

* * *

I got there just in time to see Tony slam into the wreckage of a green car.

"Tony!" I yelled out. He turned towards me, horror in his eyes.

"Get out of here, NOW!" He yelled at me as he began to get up. The man with the whips turned his attention to me. He looked at me in curiosity. He went to whip Tony, but I quickly ran in front of him and held my bo staff out protectively. The two whips latched onto either side of my staff, the electricity being absorbed.

The man glared at me before pulling back on his whips harshly, expecting the staff to go flying out of my hands. Instead, I jumped with it, launching myself at the man. His eyes widened in surprised before I angled my feet at him, kicked off of his chest, and closed my bo staff so that the whips fell to the side.

I rolled backwards as I landed on the floor before running back to Tony to check on him while the man was down. I kneeled by his side as he slowly got up.

"Ugh, nice moves kid, but you should seriously leave." He insisted with a grunt as we stood up.

"Right, and leave you here vulnerable without your suit? No way." I shook my head. He sighed before our attention was drawn to the sound of electricity crackling behind us. Turning around I saw the man begin whipping the ground menacingly as he approached us. I raised an eyebrow. _Wow, he's a dramatic one._

Tony nudged me and pointed over at the car wreck behind us subtly. I glanced down and saw gasoline pouring out of it. I locked eyes with Tony and nodded, understanding his plan. We both stared down the whip man as he approached and just as he whipped at us, we leapt out of the way. The electricity ignited the gasoline and we rolled away as the explosion rocked the ground behind us.

We stood up quickly, Tony wiping out the flame on his arm. Looking back I groaned as I saw that the man was completely unharmed. _He's one of_ those _bad guys…_

My attention was suddenly drawn to the speeding car that was coming up the track right behind the whip guy. Tony and I immediately scrambled up the gate behind us as the man stared at us in confusion, right before the car slammed into him and rammed him into the wall. He rammed the wall, right below us if I might add. I could hear Pepper screaming as Happy rolled down his window.

"You guys okay?!" He questioned as we jumped down.

"Were you heading for us or him?!" Tony questioned irately. I nodded.

"Yeah, I thought we were gonna die there!" I held my hand over my heart as I looked towards the front of the car.

"I was trying to scare him!" Happy protested.

"If we can't tell-!" Tony was cut off.

"ARE YOU TWO OUT OF YOUR MINDS?!" Pepper screamed. I plugged my ears.

"We need better security!" Tony insisted. I just nodded in agreement.

"Get in the car right now!" Pepper was ignoring us.

"I was attacked!"

"I tried to stop him, I really did." I shrugged.

"Get in the car!" Pepper repeated angrily. I flinched before hurrying to the other side of the car. Tony was lagging behind.

"We seriously need better security. It's embarrassing. First vacation in two years…" He mumbled as he followed me. I opened the door and screamed as the door was cut in two right in front of my hands. The Russian looking dude was awake apparently. Pepper screamed as Happy backed up and rammed the guy again.

"I got him!"

"Hit him again! Pepper, briefcase!" Tony shouted as Happy rammed the man again. Pepper pulled out a red and gold, metal briefcase and tried to hand it to him. But the whole car was moving constantly making it difficult. The man began to use his whips on the car, cutting it in half.

I whipped out my staff again and hopped onto the car. He glared at me before whipping at my feet. Instead of letting the whip grab on this time, I hit it as hard as I could and it flew away from me. I heard Tony yelling for the case as I continued to play tennis with this freak.

"Guys! Any day now would be nice!" I shouted as I was bombarded by electric whips from every angle. I missed once and I heard Pepper scream _again_ as another piece of the car was cut off. I turned to check if she was okay. Bad mistake on my part.

The man managed to get a whip around my leg and I screamed out as electricity ran through my body. I gritted my teeth and slammed my staff into the whip, absorbing some of the shock and letting me pull my leg out. I heard the sound of metal and gears turning behind me before Tony yelled out.

"Jump!" I immediately dove to the left as Tony kicked the car out from under me to the right, now in his suit. I rolled and hissed as pain shot up my right leg. Looking down I saw that the whip had cut into my skin and the skin around the cut was red from both blood and burns. As the fight broke out between Tony and the crazy guy, I looked behind me. There were still a few wrecked cars on fire that I knew had their drivers in them. I had to get them out before the cars blew.

I limped over to them quickly and looked around. No one was looking at me. I put my hands on the hot metal, concentrating. _C'mon, work!_ I focused on the fire staring it down and I held back my excitement as the fire dimmed until it was all the way out. Once it was safe I sighed in relief before ducking and getting the drivers out of the cars. I pulled them over to some authorities before running back out as I heard Tony being slammed around.

I saw the man slam Tony into the car before dragging him forward by his neck and proceeding to shock him. Adrenaline pumping through my veins, I ran forward and slammed my staff into his head while simultaneously turning on the electricity.

He yelled out as I hit him, but he must've had the hardest head in history because he fell forward only to shake it off and stand back up. I went to hit him again, but had to change direction to avoid the whip that wasn't wrapped around Tony's neck. I rolled to the side as it slammed right next to me. I yelped as the next hit managed to touch my arm, the shock making me drop my staff. He immediately wrapped his whip around it and slung it away from me as I tried to grab it.

The man went to whip me again, but a tug on his other whip made him stop. I looked over at Tony and saw that he was wrapping the whip around himself in the whip to get closer to the man. I saw that the man was about to use his other whip on Tony. The whip was lying right in front of me, so naturally I decided to be very stupid. I grabbed onto it and held it down.

The electricity began to burn my hands and I held back another scream of pain. I mentally encouraged Tony to go faster and thankfully he did. He elbowed the guy in the face before kicking him and grabbing his wrist. Using the leverage Tony tossed the man over him and onto the floor.

I let go of the whip just before that happened so that I wouldn't be dragged along. I sighed in relief once I didn't feel my body burning anymore. I looked at my hands. They weren't as bad as I thought. Some burns were around the cut that ran through the middle of both hands, but it wasn't too bad.

Looking back at Tony I saw that he had pulled of the glowing chest piece that the man had strapped on. As said man was being dragged away by the authorities he began laughing manically and spitting blood.

"You lose Stark! You lose!" He shouted gleefully. That was weird. I'm pretty sure that Tony just won, but whatever. I flinched as I stood up. The adrenaline was coming down now and the pain was increasing. I limped over to my bo staff and clipped it to my belt.

"You okay kiddo?" Tony asked as he walked over to me. His mask was up and I could see the worry written on his face.

"Yup, I'm good. Just a few cuts and burns." I sighed as I carefully put weight on my leg before deciding that it was a bad idea.

"Your babysitter's going to be pissed. Though I think she'll probably be more pissed at me. I was the one who put you on the race track anyways. I'm sorry." He sighed as he put his arm under mine and gave me some support. I smiled gratefully before speaking.

"Tony, I chose to do what I did. Really, it probably would've been the same either way. Except I would've come with Pepper and Happy instead of running up the track." I stated with a shrug. I looked up and noticed that people were beginning to notice me and point. I looked up at Tony.

"I'm gonna have to get out of here before people begin asking too many questions. Mind giving me a quick lift out of the track? Preferably where no one can see me." I asked as I pulled my hood more securely over my head.

"No problem kiddo. Hold on."

* * *

"Let me see." I flinched as my mom suddenly appeared in front of me. After all the excitement on the race track I had managed to get away unseen with Tony's help. I changed into different clothes and hid my mask and bo staff handle in my pocket and on my belt. Nobody suspected a thing. We were currently on a plane back to Malibu. Mom and I had seats near the back while Tony and Pepper were talking up front. I was glad for the distance because now they couldn't hear us.

I sighed as I removed the gloves I had on my hands and I rolled up my left pant leg. After the incident I had quickly wrapped my cuts before leaving. I didn't have time to do much else. My mom carefully unwrapped the bandages before inspecting the damage. She poured some alcohol on them and I held back a flinch as they began to burn painfully.

She put some ointment on the wounds to help the burns before rewrapping all the cuts afterwards. I put my gloves back on and rolled my pants back down, covering the bandages from sight. My mom sat down next to me and we sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I'm upset with you." She stated simply. I nodded, expecting that.

"I'm upset that you put yourself in harm's way when it could've easily been avoided, but…I'm also proud of you." She sighed out. My eyes widened. _Okay, I was not expecting that._

"You fought well, and I saw how you helped people. You always talked about how you wanted to save people when you were a kid." A soft smile touched her lips as she thought about old memories. I smiled too. I always boasted that I would be the best agent ever and save everyone back then.

"It scares me sometimes." I looked at her in shock at that. My mom never gets scared. "It scares me how you can be when it comes to helping others. I swear, you have some sort of hero complex. It scares me, but I understand that it's who you are and I'm proud. I just need you to promise me that you'll be careful." She turned to me with her pinky raised. I let out a half smirk/half smile. This really did become a thing between us. My mom almost never talks about how she feels, so I decided not to comment on anything and savor the moment.

I lifted my pinky and locked it with hers. "I promise." She nodded in acceptance as we separated our pinkies.

"I feel like you just look for any opportunity to save people and give me a scare." Mom said as she smirked at me.

"You saved me, so I want to be able to do that for others. Plus, it's always interesting to see the famous Black Widow scared." I smiled jokingly as I turned my head to face her. She smiled back before wrapping her arm around me in a side hug. I hugged her back as we sat there.

"But I will seriously kick your ass the next time you decide to go play hero for Stark." I laughed at how serious she was.

* * *

"Next lesson kiddo, background checks." Tony said as we walked down to his workshop. I had been there plenty of times now. I even had my own little area filled with my own inventions and designs. Tony said that we were going to do some searches on a man called Anton Vanko. He was apparently the father of that whip guy.

Tony wanted me to practice my hacking on some files on the man while he seared the more mainstream stuff with Jarvis. After a few minutes Jarvis spoke up.

"Search complete sir. Anton Vanko was a Soviet physicist who defected to the United States in 1963. However, he was accused of espionage and was deported in 1967. His son Ivan, who is also a physicist, was convicted of selling Soviet era weapons grade plutonium to Pakistan and served 15 years in prison. No further records exist." Tony sighed before turning to me.

"You got anything to add kid?" he asked.

"Not much. Everything's very cryptic when it comes to Anton. But, I did find one interesting thing. It says here that Anton was connected to…Howard Stark. I don't know how. That's all there is." I stated as I watched his facial expressions. I could read the bitterness on his face as well as the confusion. Our attention was suddenly drawn to the door as it opened and Tony's friend, Rhodey, stepped in.

"Tony, you need to get upstairs and get on top of this situation right now. Listen, I've been on the phone with the national guard all day trying to talk them out of rolling tanks up the PCH and knocking down your front door and taking these." He said as he pointed at the suits.

"They're going to _take_ your suits Tony, okay? They're sick of your games. You said nobody else would possess this technology for 20 years, well guess what. Somebody else had it yesterday. It's not theoretical anymore." He stated as he walked up to Tony who was just sitting there. I watched Tony's face. His eyes were out of focus and his face was relaxed. Rhodey noticed this too.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a much softer tone. Tony grunted before stepping out of the car he was sitting in and promptly collapsing against it. Rhodey and I immediately jumped into action and grabbed him.

"Whoa, easy there Tony." I said, worried about him. Rhodey looked over at me, just noticing I was there.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Rhodey." I nodded at him as we both supported one side of Tony.

"Eliza Smith. I'm Tony's new apprentice." I stated as I smiled at him he nodded back.

"You guys should get me to my desk." Tony said as his head lolled. We nodded before walking him over. He pointed at a box on his desk.

"See that there, it's palladium." He explained as he sat down. I opened up the box and pulled out one of the squares inside. Tony pulled out his core and clicked a button. It opened up and a smoking piece of palladium popped out.

"Is that supposed to be smoking?" Rhodey asked with a raised eyebrow. My eyes narrowed as I handed the palladium to Tony.

"No, no it isn't." I crossed my arms. Tony sighed.

"If you must know, it's neutron damage. It's from the reactor." He explained. I grabbed the core and pulled out the destroyed chip. It was completely burnt and corroded. I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose. If the reactor was damaging the palladium like this, I knew what it meant.

"You had this in your body?" Rhodey asked as he grabbed the chip from my hands.

"How bout the high-tech crossword puzzle on your neck?" He asked again. I looked at the same place. His veins were purple and showing on his neck. He was farther along than I thought. Palladium poisoning.

"Road rash." Tony said as he glanced up at Rhodey. I rolled my eyes before leaning on the desk. I watched as he placed his core back in, his chest lighting up. Rhodey just continued to stare.

"What are you looking at?" Tony noticed it too.

"I'm looking at you. You wanna do this whole lone gunslinger act and it's unnecessary, you don't have to do this alone." He said as he looked at Tony sympathetically. I almost stated that he had me, but then I remembered that Rhodey had no idea that I was the masked figure at the racetrack.

"You know I wish I could believe that, I really do but you gotta trust me. Contrary to popular belief I know exactly what I'm doing." Tony protested as he locked eyes with his friend. I took one look Tony and I could tell that he might think he knew what he was doing, but things don't always go as planned. I also wasn't sure if Tony was in the right state of mind. With the poison in him he was at a stage of reckless abandon.

From the look on Rhodey's face, I could tell he was thinking the same thing. Although he didn't know what was wrong with Tony, all that he knew was the fact that _something_ was wrong and that was all that mattered. I had a feeling that things were going to go downhill fast. And I wasn't sure if I was prepared for the ride.

* * *

 **That's the end of Chapter 5, I hope you enjoyed! Next chapter should be out in a few days.**


	6. Chapter 6: Party Crasher and Big Reveals

**Chapter 6: Party Crasher and Big Reveals**

 **Hey guys! Here's the next installment of the story! I hope you enjoy! –Cleo**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but my Ocs and any of my own plot additions.  
**

* * *

"So, when were you going to tell me about the palladium poisoning?" I asked as I leaned against the doorway of Tony's room. His shirt was open, exposing his arc reactor and the purple veins that were sprouting out of it. He sighed.

"I knew you'd figure it out. See, I didn't even have to tell you." He stated. I rolled my eyes, but nodded. He expected me to find out anyways, so it wasn't like he was purposely hiding it from me I guess…Okay, that was a weak excuse but I'll let it slide.

"Are you going to tell Pepper? Out of everyone I think she deserves to know the most." I said as I went and sat down on his couch. He just stared at his reactor for a minute, a thoughtful look on his face.

"I will tell her, eventually." Tony mumbled as he began to button the bottom of his shirt. I sighed in exasperation.

"The longer you wait, the worse it will be." He just nodded in understanding. I relaxed in the chair. I can't make Tony tell Pepper, but I can be there for him until he does. The door to the room opened again as my mom stepped through holding a box. Tony began to button up his shirt quickly at her entrance.

"Do you know what watch you'd like to wear tonight Mr. Stark?" She asked as she placed the box onto a table.

"I'll give them a look." He replied as he finished buttoning up. Mom began preparing a drink for him as he sighed.

"I should cancel the party, huh." He said as he turned to face her. She poured a martini out before grabbing it and turning towards him.

"Probably."

"Yeah, cause it's uh…"

"Ill-timed?" She offered as she approached him. He nodded.

"Right, sends the wrong message."

"Inappropriate." She added as he grabbed the glass and took a drink. I snorted. _That's an understatement. This is like having Christmas at someone's funeral._

"Is that dirty enough for you?" I choked on air as I heard my mom continue. I waved my hands.

"Whoa! There's a teenager in the room who does not want to hear that from her m-aunt!" I protested. This was too weird for me. I saw amusement in my mom's eyes as she glanced at me. I swear, she's doing all this on purpose. Tony coughed awkwardly, apparently remembering that I was still there.

"Uh, gold face brown band. The Jaeger, I'll give that a look. Bring 'em over here." He stated as he turned from my mom slightly and sat down. She smirked before going back to the box and bringing it over to him.

"I'll take that, why don't you…um." He trailed off as he took the box and my mom sat on the chair of his seat. She was in seductive mode and I was feeling incredibly awkward. I stood up quickly and practically ran out.

"I-I'll be downstairs!" I shouted over my shoulder. A mantra was going through my head. _Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew…  
_

* * *

"Hello Ms. Smith. May I assist you with anything?" Jarvis' british voice spoke up as I entered Tony's workshop and went to my desk. I wasn't allowed to be at the party because there was going to be drinking and probably people stripping, knowing Tony. My mom practically banned me from the main floor. Pepper told me that I was welcome to stay down here as long as I needed to and that she'd make sure I wouldn't be disturbed.

"Nah, thanks anyways Jarv. And I told you to just call me Eliza." I smiled as I sat at my table and logged into my computer.

"Very well Ms. Eliza." I sighed but gave up. It was a slight improvement. I heard the music get louder from upstairs and screaming women joined in.

"Jarvis, increase the soundproofing in the upstairs room." I called out as I brought up my most recent project. Replacements for palladium. If Tony wasn't going to spend all his time looking for a cure, than I would. The problem was that I couldn't find a single element that would work as a suitable core replacement. If Tony himself didn't find anything I doubted that I would. But, it never hurt to check.

"Atomic number 46, d-block, mass 106.42, compatible with nuclear reactants…" I sighed as I rubbed my forehead. How do I recreate the effect of palladium?

"Jarvis, bring up a trial and error test." I said as I leaned back in my chair. The T and E test was something that I made to test how different elements would react to the arc reactor thanks to some studying I did on the thing. I would enter in a compound and would get either a green or a red light. Pretty basic. I had gone through dozens of elements and hundreds of mixtures. Nothing ever worked.

My attention was drawn to a loud crashing noise.

"Jarvis, what's going on upstairs?" I looked up at the ceiling as I heard another crashing noise and more cheering.

"I'm afraid that Mr. Stark is currently shooting at wine bottles." Jarvis replied. For an AI he sounded pretty annoyed. I groaned.

"You have got to be kidding me." I rubbed my temples. Suddenly the door to the workshop opened and Rhodey entered looking pissed. His eyes widened as he saw me.

"Oh, I didn't know you would be here Eliza." He said as he looked at me. I closed my work so that he couldn't see what I was doing before standing.

"Yeah, I don't think I really want to be up at the party right now anyways." I smiled as I pointed up. Rhodey sighed, frustrated, and I could tell that he knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Tony's out of control. He's drunk and blowing things us with his suit. I need to put a stop to it." He stated with a frown. I nodded.

"I agree, but how do you plan to do that?" My eyes followed his as they looked to the side. I gasped.

"No, no way Rhodey! Those are Tony's suits!" I protested as he looked over at them.

"Please Eliza, I need to do this. Tony is way out of control and this is the only way I can go against him." He sighed as he walked over to the suits. He was about to get in, but a metal casing suddenly appeared blocking his way.

"My apologies Mr. Rhodes, but Mr. Stark has forbidden anyone to get to the suits without his permission." Jarvis spoked up. Rhodey groaned in frustration before slamming his fist on the metal. He paused for a second, as if realizing something, and he turned towards me. I immediately knew what he wanted.

"Uh uh, no way. I'm not gonna override Jarvis just because you and Tony need a pissing match." I crossed my arms with a glare.

"Eliza, you know as well as I do that he needs to be stopped. Tony's not in the right state of mind. I don't know what's going on, but its endangering people. I'm not going to sit back and wait for him to wake up. I need your help." Rhodey pleaded as he locked eyes with me. I looked down.

I didn't want to betray Tony, but I knew he was right. Tony was being reckless and out of control. He's practically given up on life and is now just doing whatever he wants. He needed a wakeup call, and this might just be it. I sighed.

"Fine. Give me two minutes." I walked over to my computer and began hacking into Jarvis. Of course I wasn't nearly good enough to break into Jarvis' mainframe, but luckily Tony wasn't that concerned about his suits security and left that section of Jarvis' coding easier to break into.

 _Okay, break through this firewall. Wow, not very many of those…Change the coding. Make sure Tony won't be able to tell that I've been here, although he'll probably find out anyways…_ I entered in the changes and Rhodey nodded in thanks as the metal door lowered and he stepped into the suit. Once the suit had closed around him I got his attention before he left.

"Rhodey, just do one favor for me." I stated as he turned to face me, his face mask up.

"Make sure that nobody gets that reactor."

* * *

After Rhodey had left to duke it out with Tony, I ran off to find Pepper and my mom to warn them. I saw the screaming crowds of people begin running from the main party room and I knew that they were starting based off the crashes. I grabbed one of the employees as they ran past.

"Where's Pepper?!" I asked, yelling over the chaos. He just shrugged before tugging his arm away and running. Almost everyone was out of the room by now, so I decided to check the main lounge. I ran in and sighed in relief as I saw both the women I was looking for.

"Guys! You have to get out! Tony and Rhodey are-!"

"Don't you Ms. Potts me! I know what you're up to!" I was ignored as Pepper yelled at my mom who just stared back at her.

"Ever since you got here-!" I saw the roof above them crack and jumped into action. I grabbed both of their arms and jerked them backwards just as Tony and Rhodey came crashing through the ceiling and onto the floor. They both stood up and began fighting again.

"Pepper!" Happy ran through the doors and began pulling Pepper away.

"We have to get out of here!" He yelled. I dove to the side just as Tony slammed Rhodey into the floor right where I'd been. He glanced up at me.

"Sorry kiddo!" he apologized right before he was kicked into the wall. I waved.

"It's all good!" Suddenly an arm grabbed me and pulled me up quickly. I looked over and saw my mom tugging me out of the building.

"It's dangerous in there. Let's get out of here." I was about to protest, but then something exploded behind me. I nodded instead.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea."

* * *

My mom and I had gone back to the house and stayed there for the night. The next morning I was awoken by a weight landing on my stomach. I groaned before opening my eyes and sitting up, rubbing my eyes. In my lap were my suit, bow, bo staff, and glasses. I stared up at my mom in confusion.

"Fury wants us to suit up and meet him. He's tracked down Stark at a donut shop and we're going to reveal ourselves." She explained. I nodded, glad that I wouldn't have to hide it from Tony anymore. I didn't do anything myself except for hide my mom's stuff so I wasn't too worried.

I put on my stuff, hooking my bo staff on my belt and putting my bow around my shoulder in its open form. I stuck the Bluetooth in my ear and nodded to my mom when I was done. She took a car while I flew there, making sure to stay above the clouds. I needed some exercise anyways.

* * *

I arrived at the shop a bit before my mom so I made sure the perimeter was secure until she arrived as well. We entered together and immediately went towards the table that held Tony and grandpa.

"We've secured the perimeter, but I don't think we should hold it for long." My mom said as we arrived at the table. Tony looked up at us in shock, pulling down his glasses. I saw grandpa smirk at his reaction.

"Huh, you're fired." He mumbled, looking at my mom. She just smiled.

"That's not up to you." She replied before sitting next to gramps. Tony looked to me next.

"You can't exactly fire me. I don't really work _for_ you." I smirked. He looked between me and grandpa.

"Did you set up the whole 'thugs attack Pepper' thing and you just assumed I would take her in? Do you make kids into soldiers now?" He asked incredulously. Gramps shook his head.

"No, actually Elena, or Eliza as you know her, wasn't supposed to be there at all. She's not even a real agent if that makes you feel better. That was all purely coincidence, but we allowed it to continue for the sake of appearances. Plus, she was going to do it no matter what we said. She is a teenager after all." He shrugged. Tony just nodded before looking at me again.

"In that case, I don't hold a grudge against you. I respect the teenage rebels. You're babysitter on the other hand, I do."

"Actually, she's not my babysitter or my aunt. She's my mom." I smirked as I sat down next to him. He gaped at us as Fury put an arm around my mom.

"Stark, I want you to meet Agent Romanoff. And that young lady is Elena Romanoff." Gramps said as he pointed over at me. Tony rubbed his forehead.

"Sorry, you just don't seem like the mothering type. And you look a little young to be Elena's mom." He mumbled as he looked between us.

"She's adopted. I'm a SHIELD shadow. Once we heard you were ill I was tasked to you by Director Fury." Mom explained as Tony took off his glasses.

"Uh, I suggest you apologize." He stated bluntly. Grandpa interrupted him.

"You've been very busy. You made your girl your CEO, you're giving away all your stuff, and you let your friend fly away with your suit! Now, if I didn't know any better-."

"You don't know better. I didn't give it to him, he took it." Tony cut in as he glared at grandpa. Who looked at him with a face.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He _took_ it? You're Iron Man and he just _took_ it?! The little brother just walked in there, kicked your ass, and took your suit." He turned towards my mom. "Is that possible?" I could sense the sarcasm in his words.

"According to Mr. Stark's database security based guidelines there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage." She replied as she calmly stared down Tony. I flinched at this. _Right, I hacked Jarvis._

"Look, I don't know how Rhodey got in, unless he suddenly became a computer genius, but-." I cleared my throat, getting their attention.

"Uh, actually…I might've…hacked into Jarvis to let Rhodey get the suit." I stated as I rubbed the back of my head. My mom and grandpa were staring at me, unimpressed. Tony stared at me and I was completely surprised when he wrapped his arm around me happily.

"Aw! Look at how well my little prodigy is doing! Already going against her boss and hacking into Jarvis, I'm so proud!" He wiped a fake tear from his eye as he rubbed my head. I was too surprised to stop him.

"You're not mad?" he shook his head.

"No, in fact I expected this much sooner. You did make sure to activate protocol 23, right?" He asked. I nodded in affirmation. Gramps looked between us, confused.

"Protocol 23?"

"Yeah, I set it up with DNA scanning so that if anyone other than Rhodey tries to use the suit it will tear itself apart leaving the pilot unharmed. If they try to remake the exact suit they won't be able to without that particular failsafe because it's embedded in the coding. Rhodey won't let anyone get their hands on the reactor either, but that's more of a personal favor than anything." I explained with a shrug. Tony patted my shoulder.

"See, my mini me thought of everything." He smirked. My mom seemed a little irked that he was calling me his mini me. Tony's hand gripped my shoulder as he paused.

"Oh, yeah. By the way Jarvis showed me some interesting footage from the race in Monaco." I tensed as he pulled out a small tablet and it displayed footage from the battle with Ivan. Tony fast forwarded through for a little before he paused it and zoomed in. The part he was looking at was when I set out the fire to save the drivers.

"You know, last time I checked people couldn't put out fires just by staring at it. Mind explaining how you did that and also how you managed to pull two full grown men away from the wreckage with your tiny 14 year old frame?" Tony tilted his head as he stared at us. I groaned as I rubbed my temples.

"Gramps, I thought you said that you deleted all those videos." I grumbled. He just shrugged.

"Stark has a special way with things." Tony looked between us before bursting out laughing.

"Hah! She calls you gramps?! That's the best thing I've heard all day." He gasped out as he held his gut. I smirked at grandpa as his eye twitched at Tony's reaction. After a whole minute of listening to his laughter, Tony finally managed to gather himself.

"Don't think I forgot about you young lady. Explain." He ordered. I rolled my eyes.

"Geez, what are you my dad? Wait, ew that's gross nevermind!" I waved my arms before taking a deep breath and concentrating on my hand, forcing the molecules to speed up. Instantly a fireball formed in my hand. Tony stared in fascination.

"I can control things at a molecular level. Fire is made by the molecules moving at a fast rate, creating friction. I can also freeze things, but it takes a lot longer to slow them down than it does to speed them up. I still can't control it very well so I try not to use it as much as possible in real situations. The range that I can control molecules is only just a few inches from my hands, so I'm working on that too. I can shoot fireballs though. I also have enhanced learning capacity and I'm stronger than the average person." I explained, enjoying the surprised look on Tony's face.

After saying that out loud I realize what a mouthful it is.

"…Cool, anything else I should know?" Tony asked with a sigh.

"I have wings." I shrugged.

"Okay, what the f-?!"

"Not that I'm not enjoying this little show, but I did come here for a reason Tony." Gramps interrupted with a smirk. Tony just groaned in frustration before rubbing his hands over his face.

"What do you want from me?" he asked as my mom got up and went to grab the injection from the car.

"What do we want from you? Nuh uh, what do _you_ want from me? You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with! Contrary to your belief, you are not the center of my universe! I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with." I had to admit. I did enjoy watching Tony get chewed out by gramps, especially with a hangover.

"Hit him." Gramps ordered as he snapped his fingers and my mom reappeared, stabbing the shot into Tony who yelped.

"Ah! What are you gonna do? Take my kidney and sell it? Can you please not do anything awful for like, five seconds…" He murmured, not seeing the dark veins on his neck disappearing.

"What'd she just do to me?" He asked, turning to gramps.

"What did we just do _for_ you. That's lithium dioxide, it's gonna take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work." Gramps explained. Tony nodded.

"Right, just give me a couple boxes of that and I'll be right as rain." He mumbled. My mom decided to interject.

"It's not a cure, just beats the symptoms." She stated.

"It won't last for long either, but it was the closest thing I could find that would help the poisoning." I added as gramps inspected Tony's neck.

"Doesn't look like it'll be an easy fix."

"Trust me, I know. I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for palladium. I've tried every combination, every permutation of every known element." Tony stated as he stared down gramps in the eye.

"Well, I'm here to tell you that you haven't tried them all."

* * *

"That thing in your chest is based off of unfinished technology." Gramps said as he and Tony lounged on the deck of Tony's destroyed house. My mom and I were standing in the back, watching the exchange.

"No, it was finished. Never been particularly effective until I miniaturized it and put it in my chest." Tony countered as he looked at gramps, confused.

"No, Howard said the arc reactor was a stepping stone to something greater. He was about to kick off an energy race that would dwarf the arms race. He was onto something big, something so big that it was gonna make the nuclear reactor look like a triple-A battery." Gramps stated with a smirk.

"Just him? Or was Anton Vanko in on this too?" Tony asked as he poured a drink. I listened to this too. I was curious about Ivan's father.

"Anton Vanko is the other side of that coin. Anton saw it as a way to get rich. When your father found out he had him deported. When the Russians found out he couldn't deliver, they shipped his ass off to Siberia where he spent the next 15 years in a vodka fueled rage. Not quite the environment you want to raise a kid in." Gramps explained as he took a sip of his drink.

"You said that I haven't tried everything, what do you mean? What haven't I tried?"

"Your father said that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started." Tony looked at grandpa incredulously.

"He said that?"

"Mmhm. Are you that guy? Are you? Cause if you are then you can solve the riddle of your heart." At that I just had to snort. They both looked over at me.

"Sorry, it's just…the whole 'riddle of your heart' thing sounded soppy coming from you gramps." I explained with a smirk. Tony nodded in agreement.

"She's not wrong." Gramps just glared at the both of us.

"Can we just get back to business?" I kinda zoned out after that. It was like blah blah blah…Howard…blah blah…SHILED. I only started listening again once Uncle Phil walked in with a big case. I waved at him and he gave me a slight smile before focusing back on gramps.

"You got this." Gramps said as he stood up and buttoned his coat. Tony just looked really confused.

"Got what? I don't even know what I'm supposed to get!" He protested. He was promptly ignored.

"Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover intact. Elena can do whatever the hell she wants as long as it's not illegal, and you remember Agent Coulson, right?" gramps began walking away as Tony nodded.

"Yup." Just before grandpa left, he turned.

"Oh, and Tony just remember. I got my eye on you." He stated before giving Tony a look and walking away. I stifled my giggles. I always thought it was funny when gramps alluded to his single eye like that.

"We've disabled all communications. No contact with the outside world. Good luck." Mom said before gesturing for me to follow her and walking out of the room. I gave a quick salute to Uncle Phil and a wave to Tony before going to follow her. She was waiting right outside of the hallway.

"What's your plan for now? I'm going back to Stark industries." She asked as she turned towards me. I shrugged.

"Well, I'll stay with Tony for now I guess. Looks like he'll need all the help he can get." I stated with a smile. She nodded before her face softened and she pulled me into a hug.

"Stay safe, Stark's like a walking magnet for trouble. And don't let him rub off on you too much. The last thing I need is for you to be influenced by Clint and Stark." Mom sighed as she backed out of the hug. I smirked.

"But then I would add so much liveliness to your life." I stated sarcastically and I laughed at the face she made as she groaned in response.

"You already do, and I don't need anymore. Call me later, okay?" I nodded and waved as she walked away before walking back into the room just as Coulson finished his threats.

"-I will tase you and watch Supper Nanny while you drool into the carpet. Got it?"

"I think I got it." Tony nodded as Uncle Phil turned to walk away.

"Enjoy your evening's entertainment." He called over his shoulder. Tony looked back at the box on the floor and stared at it as I walked up.

"Thought you would leave with agent mommy." He said without looking at me. I shrugged.

"Well, I am your apprentice. Besides, staying here sounds like more fun than going back to the company anyways. Ready to get to work?"

* * *

"Here take a look at this." Tony said as he went to hand me the blueprints for the arc reactor. I closed my eyes tight.

"Tony, I can memorize that blueprint within a minute of looking at it. If you don't want anyone else to know how to make this technology, then I suggest not letting me look at it." I stated. I felt him push the paper into my hands.

"Honestly I don't know if anyone will find out how to recreate this for many years if they don't have either the blueprints or an already made reactor. There needs to be someone else other than me who can understand this, and I can't think of anyone better to entrust this with than my little apprentice." He explained. I opened my eyes and saw him smiling at me. I smiled back. I was glad that he trusted me with something so personal and valuable.

"Okay, but if I go mad with power it's all your fault." I smirked as I looked down at the blueprints, taking it in.

"I can deal with that."

* * *

I had left Tony down in the basement to watch the films. I felt that he needed some time alone to think on things and I needed to call my mom anyways.

" _Hey Elena. How are things going with Stark?"_ I heard my mom's voice crackle through the phone.

"Well, nothing much so far. I did learn how to build an arc reactor if that's important."

" _You what?"_

"Oh, Tony let me learn how to build one. He said that someone other than him needs to know how to and he trusted me with it."

" _Great, don't go mad with power or anything. We don't need another Iron Man, or Iron Girl, on our case."_ I giggled.

"That's what I warned Tony about. Don't worry, he'll take full responsibility." I heard her snort over the line.

" _That's a first."_ I laughed, nodding in agreement.

"Oh, you missed Uncle Phil's threat earlier."

" _Really? Damn, did he use Supper Nanny or Animal Planet this time?"_

"He used Supper Nanny plus a nice drool into the carpet comment."

" _Oh, nice. He's beginning to branch out."_

"I know right? By the way, when's Uncle Clint getting back from his mission?" I asked as I sat at one of the chairs.

" _Last time I checked he wasn't sure. I think Fury was talking about needing Clint for some security detail down in New Mexico."_

"Okay, I'll see if I can-." I was cut off as Tony suddenly ran up the stairs and towards me.

"Eliz- or Elena, come on. We're breaking perimeter." He stated before walking away. I stared after him incredulously.

" _Elena? What's going on?"_ I shook my head before standing up.

"Uh, I gotta go. We're breaking perimeter."

" _What? Ele-."_ I hung up before she could continue. Right after I did I flinched. _I'm sooo getting grounded for that…_

* * *

Tony drove the car to Stark Industries while I flew over the cloud cover. I decided to get some extra practice. We were going to see Pepper I believed. I smiled, proud that he was finally going to tell her about the poisoning.

Once landing in front of the building I saw that Tony was being held up by some security guys and I noticed the box of strawberries in his hand. I sighed, knowing that he had forgotten that she was allergic to them and losing any pride I had in him at the moment. So, I decided to try and get her in a better mood before he got in there and ruined it. I quickly bought some peaches from a farmer's market near the building before entering, cutting the fruit with a knife that I may or may not have hidden in my sleeve.

I smiled at some employees as they smiled and let me in, ignoring Tony's pleas to help him. They had gotten to know me and knew that I was allowed access in. I waved to the secretary in front of Pepper's door before walking in, carrying a plate of sliced peaches behind my back.

Pepper was just getting off of the phone as I walked in.

"-yes I will talk to them about it. Thank you very much and I will see you on Tuesday for that meeting, goodbye." She placed the phone down before smiling up at me.

"Eliza, hi. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I just wanted to warn you that there's trouble on his way up." I stated with a small smile as I sat down on the chair and hid the plate on my lap. Pepper sighed.

"He isn't."

"Oh, he is. Should be here in a minute." I affirmed.

"Eliza, I just want to apologize for all the problems Tony has caused you during your apprenticeship. I feel like you've been the adult here." She groaned as she rubbed her temples. I just smiled.

"Don't worry about it. I still learned lots. Plus, I've always liked a challenge." I stated, shrugging before pulling up the plate and handing it to her.

"And these are for you. They're from the farmer's market down the street." I explained with a shrug as she took them in her hand. She looked up at me surprised.

"You got me these? How'd you know they were my favorite? Or was it just a lucky guess?" She asked incredulously.

"Well, we had peach cobbler one time after dinner and you mentioned how peaches were you favorite. Tony will probably upset you, so I wanted to make sure you had something to cheer you up afterwards." I smiled warmly at her. She was always so nice to me when I was staying at Tony's house, so I felt it was only right to repay her. I also wanted to be able to rub this moment into Tony's face after his epic fail. She stared at me for a few seconds before surprising me by standing up and giving me a hug.

"I would totally adopt you if you didn't already have a mom!" She squealed as she hugged the life out of me. I was flattered, but I also wasn't breathing so I pried her arms off.

"Thanks, but I couldn't breathe." I explained with a smirk. She apologized profusely before I heard a commotion at the door and I knew Tony was here. By the look on Pepper's face I could tell she knew it too. I smiled apologetically before getting up.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone then. And please don't kill him. I still need a mentor after all." I called over my shoulder as the door opened and Tony stepped in with the secretary trailing after him.

"Miss Potts?"

"Relax."

"Mr. Stark is not-."

"I'm here."

"He refuses to-."

"I don't, that's fine. I'll just be a second." Tony kept on interrupting the poor woman. The woman went to protest again, but I shook my head and pulled her out of the room. Tony patted me on the back as I walked by.

"See you soon squirt." He called out as I closed the door behind me. I smiled at the secretary.

"Sorry about him. He's a bit pushy." I shrugged. She just smiled at me before nodding.

"Oh, it's not your fault dear. You can sit over there while Mr. Stark and Miss. Potts talk." She said as she pointed over at some waiting chairs. I thanked her before going over and sitting in a chair.

I heard feet approaching from down the hall, so I looked up only to quickly get out of the chair and try to escape once I saw that my mom was coming with Happy trailing behind her. She saw my attempt at escape and rolled her eyes before holding me in place by the back of my shirt. If I saw this happening to anyone else I would've laughed at the comical scene. Sadly, it was happening to me and I was quite terrified.

"Yeah, nice try." My mom said with a roll of her eyes before giving Happy a look. He saw that this was one of those 'scolding the kids' moments so he turned and walked a bit further down the hall to give us some privacy. I glared at him. _Traitor._ I looked back up at my mom and gave her the most innocent look I could manage along with puppy eyes.

"I'm sorry?" I said as I placed my clasped my hands in front of me. She rolled her eyes.

"You're cute, but you're still in trouble. Next time you hang up on me like that, you're grounded." She stated, but I mentally sighed in relief that she wasn't grounding me this time. Like I said before, it's one of the perks of her work-mode; less lectures and less groundings.

"Yes ma'am." I nodded. Happy glanced over at us.

"Is it safe?" He questioned. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, she hasn't murdered me." I stated. He sighed in relief before walking back up to us and opening the door to Pepper's office for mom and I. I thanked him before walking through and assessing the situation. Pepper looked pissed, Tony looked dejected, and the strawberries were on her desk. Great.

 _Maybe I should've given him some advice…Nah._

"Miss Potts, wheels up in 25 minutes." My mom stated as she walked into the room, glancing at Tony.

"Thank you." Pepper said as she took some papers from my mom to sign them. Happy stood in the doorway behind me.

"Anything else boss?" He asked. It got awkward when both Pepper and Tony answered at the same time.

"No, Happy-."

"I'm good-." Pepper gave Tony a look before she cut back in.

"Just another minute." Tony looked between Happy, my mom, and Pepper.

"I lost both the kids in the divorce." He stated, throwing his hands out with a sarcastic smile. I raised an eyebrow. _If my mom and Happy are Tony and Pepper's kids, that would make them my grandparents and Happy my uncle. This is some messed up family._

"At least I got to keep my little apprentice." He chuckled at his own jokes before glancing back at Happy and I who were shaking our heads. _No Tony, just no._

"That's-um…no. Right." He stated awkwardly, turning back to Pepper and my mom. He glanced up at my mom before clearing his throat.

"Are you…blending in well here, Natalie?" I glared at his head. He wasn't seriously about to blow her cover in spite, was he? I could tell by the way my mom was glaring at Tony that she was on the same page as me.

"Here at Stark enterprises I mean. Your name is Natalie, isn't it?" I walked up behind him and casually put my elbow on his head, but I put pressure on it to let him know to stop. He sighed before changing the topic.

"I thought you two didn't get along?" He asked in confusion as he pointed between them.

"No, that's not so." Pepper replied, shaking her head.

"It's just me you don't care for." She ignored him while she stood up.

"No? Nothin." Tony gave up.

"Actually while you're here, you and Natalie could discuss the matter of personal belongings." Pepper suggested as she put her bag over her shoulder as my mom nodded. Pepper also grabbed the plate of peach slices before looking over at me with a smile.

"Thanks again for the peaches Eliza. It was good to see you." She said as she walked over to me and gave me another hug. I hugged back before pulling away with a smile.

"It was my pleasure Pepper." Tony looked between us and then at the peaches.

"You got her peaches?" He asked, surprised. Pepper nodded.

"Yes Tony. She actually remembered that I liked peaches." She stated with a bitter smirk. Tony turned towards me with a 'what the hell' expression.

"You're stealing my thunder kid." I snorted.

"What thunder? The crashing and burning one? Besides, I just wanted to do something nice for Pepper before you came and ruined her day." I stated with a shrug. I could see a slight smirk appear on my mom's face as Tony pointed at me.

"I take offense to that. You're supposed to be on my side apprentice."

"I'm not taking a side. I'm just stating facts. Me being your apprentice means that I'm allowed to give you tough love." I smirked. Pepper smiled and said goodbye to me again before leaving with Happy as Tony glared at me before giving up with a sigh. He never stayed mad at me for too long. Immediately once the door closed I could feel the tension between my mom and Tony.

"I'm surprised you can keep your mouth shut."

"Boy you're good. You are mind-blowingly duplicitous. How do you do it? You just tear things-you're a triple imposter! I've never seen anything like you. Is there anything real about you? Do you even speak Latin?" I glared at Tony and smacked his head.

"What? She could be lying about that too! How come you turned out so different than her?" He questioned. I rolled my eyes.

"She just doesn't like you. And she's a good mom just so you know." I glared at him, daring for him to say something against my mom again. He lifted his hands in surrender as my mom began walking away.

"Fallaces sunt rerum species." Mom stated as she walked around him. I snorted, knowing that she said 'appearances deceive'.

"Ain't that the truth." I stated as I leaned back in the chair. Tony looked at me in confusion.

"You speak Latin? Wait what does it mean?" He asked as my mom continued to walk away before abruptly turning her head.

"It means you can either drive yourself home or I can have you collected." She stated before walking out of the room in a cold fury. I flinched. I really hoped her bad mood wouldn't get me grounded later.

"You're good!" Tony yelled just as the door closed. I reached over and flicked his head.

"Ow! What'd I do?"

"Dude, be nice to my mom for two reasons. 1, she can kick your butt. 2, I will too." I glared. He sighed but nodded dejectedly. He stared at the twirly thing on Pepper's desk before grabbing the clock on her desk and placing it beneath the thing, stopping it from spinning. I watched as he grabbed a strawberry before taking the box and dumping it in the trash, spilling strawberries everywhere.

I stood up and walked over to him as he was about to exit the room. Suddenly he stopped and looked back in the corner of the room and a display that was half covered by a cloth. Pulling the strawberry out of his mouth he walked over to it and pulled off the cloth, revealing Howard Stark's display of the Stark expo. He stared at it, and I could practically see the revelation in his eyes. I looked at the display. _Did Tony see something in those videos?_ He turned to me with a smile.

"C'mon Elena, help me get this into the car. We've got a cure to find."

* * *

 **That's the end! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next one will be out soon.**


	7. Chapter 7: Key To the Future

**Chapter 7: Key to the Future**

 **Hey guys! Sorry about the whole chapter upload mishap. This was the chapter I was originally supposed to upload instead of Land of Enchantment. Again, sorry for the giant lag in updates and I hope you enjoy! -Cleo**

* * *

After helping Tony get the display into the car we went back to his house. Him driving back, me flying back. We set the thing up downstairs before my phone rang. I told Tony that I'd be back in a minute and went upstairs while he analyzed the thing. I looked at my phone and saw that it was gramps. I pressed answer before putting the phone up to my ear.

"What's up gramps?"

" _Elena, there's been news about a certain 0-8-4 sighting in New Mexico. I want you there."_ I blinked at his straight to the point sentence. A 0-8-4 sounded exciting. I hadn't ever been able to see one of those before. But, a thought crossed my mind and I frowned.

"Gramps, I'm still busy over here with Tony. And I thought I wasn't allowed to go on missions since I'm not a real agent?" I questioned in confusion. I heard a sigh over the phone.

" _This isn't a mission. I saw pictures of the object and there's a…certain detail about it that will interest you. You know that mark on your lower back?"_

"Yeah?" The mark looked like three pointed ovals that were interlocked forming a triangle with curves. We hadn't noticed it at first because it only appeared on my back when I had my wings out.

We only found out about it when I had accidently burned my shirt off when I had just discovered my powers and I used my wings to cover myself. It was a really awkward trip through the base with a lot of threats from my mom and uncle being handed out. Gramps, Aunt Maria, and Uncle Phil just had really scary glares. I was brought back out of my thoughts by gramps.

" _The same mark is found on the 0-8-4."_ I gasped. If this thing had the same mark as I did, it might have a clue as to where I came from and why I have wings. Gramps seemed to read my thoughts.

" _I can have a ride for you prepared within the hour."_ He stated that brought me out of my daze.

"Wait, I still can't leave Tony now. Give me a few days, please." I begged down the phone. This was something I needed to stay for. The 0-8-4 could wait. There was a pause before he replied.

"… _You get two days."_ I sighed in relief before thanking him and hanging up. I ran my hand through my hair. There was a lot going on right now. I walked back down into the basement and saw that Tony was slamming a sledgehammer into the wall.

"Whoa, Tony! What are you doing?!" I questioned as I walked up to him. He glanced over at me.

"Elena, perfect! I need you to fly back to Stark Enterprises and grab the-." I stopped him there.

"Wait, what's going on?"

"Look, I think I found a replacement for the palladium. I've rediscovered a new element, but I'm going to need your help to synthesize it. I need you to go back to Stark Enterprises and grab a crate labeled 'coils' from the materials basement and bring it back here, okay?" He questioned. I stood there shocked. _Wow, a lot can happen in a phone call._ I nodded.

"Yeah, whatever you need. I'll be back in a jiffy!"

* * *

After grabbing the crate I flew it back to Tony as fast as I could. When I arrived I saw him throwing cords and wires down through a hole in the ceiling. He came down and together we set up the coils, lining them up together across the room. We began going around, checking to see if they were all level when Uncle Phil suddenly entered the room.

"I heard you broke the perimeter." He stated. I snorted. He really needed to work on going through with his threats.

"Yeah, that was like 3 years ago, where you been?" Tony asked as he placed the level on one of the coils. It was slightly uneven.

"I was doing some stuff." Uncle Phil replied. He glanced over at me and smiled as I waved at him. He was in his business mode so I wasn't offended that he didn't say hi.

"Yeah? Well, me too and it worked." Tony stated as he began looking for something to stick under the coil.

"Hey, I'm playing for the home team Coulson. You and all your fabulous furry freak brothers. Are you gonna let me work or break my balls?" he asked as he looked in another crate. Uncle Phil pulled out an imitation of Captain America's shield. I saw a picture of it in one of the files I hacked into.

"What's this doing here?" Coulson asked. Tony turned towards him and stared at the disk.

"That's it. Bring it to me." Tony ordered as Uncle Phil walked over to him.

"You know what this is?" He sounded suspicious. Tony nodded.

"It's exactly what I need to make this work." He replied. Tony grabbed the imitation, examining it for a second before nodding and turning towards Uncle Phil.

"Lift the coil…wait, actually we have a girl with super strength here. Elena, come lift this coil." He ordered as he turned towards me instead. I rolled my eyes but nodded and walked over, easily lifting the heavy coil so that Tony could place the disk underneath.

"And, drop it." I did as he said and carefully set down the coil. Tony grabbed the level again and placed it on top.

"Perfectly level." He smiled, satisfied before turning to Uncle Phil.

"I'm busy what do you want?" He questioned as he grabbed the level off of the coil.

"Nothing, goodbye. I've been reassigned. Director Fury wants me in New Mexico." I turned towards Uncle Phil in surprised. Gramps was sending him there too? He sent a knowing glance at me before looking back at Tony.

"Fantastic. Land of enchantment."

"So I'm told." Tony looked up at Uncle Phil at that.

"Secret stuff?"

"Something like that. Good luck." Uncle Phil said as he held out his hand. Tony grasped it.

"Thanks, goodbye."

"We need you."

"Yeah, more than you know."

"Not that much." I giggled a little at Uncle Phil's last remark before turning to Tony.

"I'll be right back. I just need to ask Coulson something." I stated before walking out of the room after Uncle Phil. Tony just waved me off before going back to work. I walked out the door before quickly running up the stairs to catch up.

"Uncle Phil, wait up!" I called out. He turned towards me, smiling.

"Elena, how may I help you?"

"Did gramps tell you about the object?" I asked in curiosity. He nodded before pulling out a picture.

"I'm guessing that he wants you to be there judging by this mark." Uncle Phil commented as he pointed at the mark on the side of the hammer. Gramps was right. It was identical to my own.

"Uncle Phil, what does this mean?" I whispered out as I held the picture in my hands, frowning. I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw that he was smiling comfortingly at me.

"Don't worry Elena. Whatever it is, you'll be okay. You'll have the rest of us behind you." He reassured. I smiled again before giving him a quick hug.

"Thanks. I'll see you in New Mexico in a few days." I promised. He nodded before backing out of the hug to leave. I sighed before heading back down to Tony.

* * *

"I'm just gonna stand way over here." I stated as I walked to the opposite side of the room. Tony was about to start the laser and I did not want to get in the way of that. He nodded before putting on his goggles and turning on the power.

"Prismatic accelerator initializing." Jarvis announced as the laser shot through the coils, hitting the prism. Tony tried to turn the laser by pulling on the wheel with his hands, but that didn't work. He quickly reached over and grabbed a large wrench, using that instead.

I leaned against the wall behind me as the whole ground began shaking. The laser shot out of the prism as Tony turned it and it began cutting everything in half on the way. _I'm so glad I moved._ Tony kept turning and turning the thing until finally the laser was aimed at the target, a little triangle being held in a metal cylinder. A high pitched ringing noise filled the air and I had to plug my ears to block it out.

"Maximum power achieved." Jarvis called out. The triangle began glowing blue. Tony quickly shut off the laser. The glowing lessened, but it was still there. It glowed a bright blue that practically oozed power.

"That was easy…" Tony mumbled as he ducked under the coils and began walking towards the glow. I slowly leaned away from the wall and followed him in. We both stared at the glow in awe.

"Congratulations sir, you have created a new element." Jarvis stated as Tony grabbed the triangle with some tweezers and examined it closely before placing it in the modified core casing. A glass cover came over the triangle and the core began pulsing before completely lighting up.

"Sir, the reactor has accepted the modified core. I will begin running diagnostics." I still stared at the core.

"Tony, this is awesome." I whispered as I stared at the thing.

"Yeah, it is. And we have my dad to thank for it."

* * *

"Dummy, you, can you clean up this mess? You're killing me." Tony said as he pointed as poor Dummy the machine. I patted the mechanical arm.

"It's okay Dummy. He'll appreciate you one day." I said with a smile. Tony just glared at me while I stuck my tongue out.

"Incoming call with a blocked number sir." Jarvis said as a beeping came from Tony's computer.

"My phone privilege is reinstated, lovely." He said as he walked over to the computer.

"Coulson, how's the land of enchantment?" Tony asked. The voice that came through was definitely not Coulson.

" _Hey, Tony, how you doing?"_ I glared at the computer in shock as Ivan's voice came through. Tony looked just as surprised as I felt.

" _I double cycle."_ Ivan chuckled.

"What?" Tony questioned with wide eyes.

" _You told me to double cycle's more power. Good advice."_ I flicked Tony in the head.

"You gave advice to a Russian psychopath?!" I whisper/yelled. He looked back at me.

"I didn't know he'd ever be able to use it!" He retorted before turning back to the computer.

"You sound pretty spritely for a dead guy."

" _You too."_ Tony glared as Ivan laughed through the phone. He pressed the mute button.

"Trace him." He ordered. Jarvis began doing just that as Ivan continued.

" _Now, the true history of Stark's name will be written."_

"Jarvis, where is he?" Tony asked, getting panicked. I rolled my eyes before getting on the computer. Sometimes it's faster to do it yourself. I accessed the Oracle grid.

"Eastern seaboard…" I mumbled as my fingers flew over the keyboard, Tony leaning over my shoulder. A map of the U.S. appeared on the screen and zoomed in by the Atlantic Ocean.

" _What your father did to my family over 40 years, I will do to you in 40 minutes."_

"Sounds good, let's get together and hash it out." Tony mumbled as he scanned my computer.

"Tristate area…Manhattan and outlying boroughs…" I tried to go faster. The more I went through this the closer I realized he was.

" _I hope you're ready. Also, bring that masked girl from last time. I would love the company."_ His laughter came through the phone before a beeping noise came as Ivan hung up. I slammed my fist into the desk in frustration.

"Damn! I couldn't complete it." I rubbed my forehead. Tony looked at the computer in panic before his eyes locked on a picture of Justin Hammer. I looked up at him.

"You don't think…" He just nodded before he looked over at the new core and ran over, grabbing it.

"Sir…" Jarvis began to protest but Tony cut him off.

"You want to run tests, run them." He stated before pressing the core into his chest.

"And assemble the suit while you're at it. Assemble it now." He ordered.

"We are unclear as to the effects-."

"I don't want to hear it Jarvis!" Tony interrupted quickly before glancing at me.

"Suit up." I needed no further encouragement and quickly ran over to my bag and pulled out all my stuff. I'd have to leave my hair uncovered, but I was still wearing a mask and my glasses this time. I went to go put it on and I heard Tony began to cough.

"Ugh, tastes like coconut. And metal. Oh, wow, yeah!"

* * *

As Tony was getting his suit assembled I pulled out my phone. I needed to warn my mom.

" _Elena? What is it?"_ I sighed in relief. She's okay, for now. I could hear cheering in the background and I knew that she was at the expo.

"Mom, you gotta listen to me. Ivan's coming for us. You gotta-!" I pulled my phone away from my ear as static filled the air. I looked at my screen. _Call blocked._ I glared. Someone somewhere was blocking any of my calls from going in and out. Ivan was one sneaky bastard. I looked over at Tony who was fully suited now. I smiled as I saw that the effects of the poisoning were practically gone.

"I'm gonna go into the expo, the people know me. I want you to stay out of the building. There might be trouble incoming." He explained, stepping forward. I nodded in affirmation.

"You ready kid?" He asked as his face mask slammed shut. I smirked as I put on my own mask.

"You bet old man."

* * *

I waited on top of the building, my wings out as I watched Tony fly in and go next to Rhodey. I knew that he was explaining the situation, so I waited for the party to begin. Scanning the crowd I saw my mom sitting next to Pepper. I nodded in satisfaction that they were both okay before turning to look at the sky. I immediately looked down when I heard screaming.

Tony came flying out of the building and I had to quickly follow his lead to avoid all the bullets coming my way. I clicked on my earpiece that Tony had connected to his suit.

"Tony, what's going on?!" I questioned as the drones came flying after us.

"Vanko's rigged the drones and Rhodey's suit! They're all locked on me, so you go help the civilians while I keep them distracted!" I nodded at him before turning to fly away.

"Be careful Tony!" I flew down towards where the civilians were all running. I saw that a few drones were still down here, running through the people. I landed on the ground and a few people screamed when they saw me. I quickly raised my hands in a placating manner.

"It's okay! I'm here to help! Everyone evacuate the area! I'll take care of the drones." They still looked scared, but I guess they figured that it was better to run than stay there anyways. One of the drones noticed my presence and locked on and fired. I held up my hands in surprise, flinching as I awaited the pain. None came. Looking up I saw that I had melted the bullets before they could even touch me. Huh, cool.

Running at the drone I ducked under the next bullets that came at me before lighting my hand on fire and punching straight through the robot. Turning towards the next one I shot a fireball and it sustained itself long enough to hit the drone and melt its head. I looked down at my hands. Maybe I should use my powers in real situations more often. I think the threat of death makes them work better.

Looking around I saw some people taking out their phones and taking pictures of me. I rolled my eyes. The things people will risk their lives for.

"Get out of here, NOW!" I shouted. They squeaked in fear before nodding and running away. I turned back to the drones and ran at them, lighting both hands on fire.

* * *

 _"Kid, how are things down there?"_ Tony's voice came over through our communicators. I pulled my flaming fist out of another drone before responding.

"Oh, you know. Just fine and dandy." I ducked under another gun before grabbing said gun and melting it, swinging what was left at the drone that held it.

" _That's good; hey shoot a huge blast of fire upwards if you would."_ I raised an eyebrow in confusion before lifting my hand above my head and doing as he asked.

"Okay?"

" _Great, now are all the drones on the ground focused on you now?"_ I looked around and realized that they were.

"Uh, yes…"

" _Oh good, they were beginning to shoot at me."_

"Tony, you're a dick."

" _Love you too kiddo."  
_

* * *

 _"Elena, a pack just split off of me and are heading for the expo!"_

"Got it!" I flapped my wings, getting up in the air and flying towards the expo as fast as I could. I arrived just as the drones arrived. They immediately began bombarding me with gunshots, and I had to concentrate as hard as I could to keep them off of my body. Melted bullets dripped off my hands as I flew forward and tackled the first bot in range, my fist going straight through it.

Turning towards the next two I grabbed both of their heads and frying their circuits before launching them at a few other drones, knocking them off their feet. I quickly ran over and pulled out my Bo staff, turning up the electricity and frying them out with a few knocks. I grimaced as a couple bullets grazed my side and wing before turning and launching a fire ball at the drone that shot me.

" _You good kid?"_ Tony's voice came over the intercom again as I stood breathing heavily.

"Yeah, just stop sending drones my way if you please." I sighed.

" _I'll try not to."_ I heard a few explosions in the background of Tony's com and I saw fire light up the globe at the center of the expo.

"You always did have a flair for dramatics." I stated as I flew towards the sight.

" _Life's always more exciting with me around."_ I laughed at that. I had to agree.

"Where are you now?" I asked as I flew through the sky.

" _According to Jarvis, you should be just to the right of me."_ I glanced over to the left and smiled as I saw the suit.

"I see you; I'm coming in- Tony watch out!" I yelled out in alarm as I saw Rhodey heading straight for him. He didn't see it in time and they both went tumbling into some trees. I quickly followed after. I landed just as Rhodey began firing at Tony.

I shot a weaker fire ball at his back, wanting to just get his attention on me not hurt him. Rhodey's gun faced me without him even looking and I rolled out of the way as he shot right where I had been. I didn't want to test my melting powers with a machine gun. Blocking a few bullets at a time was hard enough. Just as he was about to fire again Tony managed to knock Rhodey up and off of him. I sighed in relief as I my mom's voice called over the earpiece.

" _Reboot complete. You got your best friend back."_

"Thank you very much, Agent Romanoff." Tony stated as I took a breather on the ground, putting away my Bo staff and inspecting my bullet wounds.

" _Well done with the new chest piece. I'm reading significantly higher output and your vitals look promising."_

"Yes, for the moment, I am not dying. Thank you." I snorted. Only Tony would joke about dying like that.

" _ **What do you mean you're not dying? Did you just say you're dying?"**_ My eyes widened as I heard Pepper's voice come in. Tony got surprised too.

"Is that you? Uh, no, I'm not **.** Not anymore."

" _ **Wh-what's going on?"**_

"I was going to tell you. I didn't want to alarm you."

" _ **You were going to tell me?! You really were dying?!"**_

"You didn't let me-."

" _ **Why didn't you tell me that?!"**_

"I was going to make you an omelet and tell you!"

" _Hey hey, save it for the honeymoon. You got incoming Tony. Looks like the fights coming to you."_ My mom cut in. Good thing too, cause I was just about to burst out laughing.

"Great, Pepper?" Tony asked cautiously.

" _ **Are you okay now?"**_

"I am fine. Don't be mad. I will formally apologize-."

" _ **I am mad."**_

"-when I'm not fending off a Hammeroid attack!"

"… _ **Fine."**_

"We could've been in Venice."

" _ **Oh please."**_ I could practically hear Pepper's eye roll.

" _Okay, now that's Pepper's gone, Stark where's my daughter?"_

"No need, I'm right here mom." I stated as I clicked on my earpiece. Tony looked over at me. I couldn't tell what his face looked like, but I was guessing that he had wide eyes.

"Wait, you heard that whole thing?"

"You forgot to turn off our connection." I shrugged with a smirk. He groaned.

" _Don't be too smug. I want to talk to you."_ I instantly noticed that tone of voice.

"Okay, this is going off…" I mumbled as I disconnected my earpiece from Tony.

"Hey! I want to hear you get chewed out!" He whined. I ignored him and walked a safe distance from him as he grumbled about the 'unfairness' of it all and went to wake Rhodey.

" _You still there?"_

"Yeah mom, I'm here. Without the addition of Tony I might add."

" _Good. Injury catalog."_ She immediately ordered with a no-nonsense voice. I instantly looked over myself and took list on my injuries.

"Uh, two bullet grazes on my left side, a bullet hole in my wing, some second degree burns on my hands, and a few cuts on my face from glass. Nothing that requires immediate attention." I listed off dutifully as I examined my wounds. I heard a sigh over the com.

" _Please be careful from now on Elena. You shouldn't have even been in this fight."_

"I know, but Tony needed help." I shrugged even though she couldn't see it.

" _What did I say about playing hero for Stark?"_

"That you'd kick my butt, but I don't think you'd hurt your poor, injured daughter now."

" _Don't underestimate me."_ I shivered a little. I really did believe her for a second. Another sigh drew my attention.

" _I'm serious Elena. Be careful. I would tell you to get out of there right now, but I know you wouldn't. Teenagers…"_

"Don't worry mom. I'll be careful, plus I have Tony and Rhodey watching my back." I smiled as I glanced over at the two. Tony had finally gotten Rhodey up apparently.

" _That's what worries me the most. Stark couldn't keep an eye on a plastic doll, let alone an actual person."_ I giggled a little as my mom spoke. She really didn't like Tony. My attention was drawn to the surrounding area as dozens of drones landed.

"Mom, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later."

"… _Alright, give 'em hell. By the way, you're grounded."_ I groaned at her parting words before I reconnected my earpiece to Tony and flew over to where the two guys were standing. Rhodey looked at me in confusion.

"Who's this?" I clicked a button on my Bluetooth and the mask retracted back into the goggles. I saw his eyes widen in recognition.

"Elena Romanoff, at your service." I winked with a smirk at his flabbergasted expression. He looked at me before looking at Tony who was smirking as well.

"Long story." He stated simply before his mask closed shut. Rhodey sighed before following suit.

"You have _got_ to explain this when we're done here." He groaned. I nodded before putting my mask back up.

"Sure, no problem. But, I'd have to kill you."

"…"

"Geez, I'm just joking. Take a chill pill."

* * *

The next few minutes were filled with gunfire, explosions, and lots of fire. I ducked under a rocket launcher before shoving my burning fist through the drone. I shook my hand out. I was starting to feel the burns from touching hot metal. My powers kept as much heat off of me as possible, but it didn't stop all of it.

"Duck kiddo!" I hit the floor just as Tony tackled the Hammeroid behind me and fired his repulsors into the drone. I nodded in thanks before lifting up my hands and shooting white hot fireballs at two more. This was getting tiring. I winced as I felt a bulled graze my arm and I turned with a glare towards Rhodey.

"Really man?!"

"What?! You try controlling three guns at the same time!" He growled out before grabbing the bot in front of him and lighting it up. Tony glanced around at all the drones surrounding us.

"Guys, get down!" We both ducked down as Tony swung his wrists around himself, shooting out a red laser that cut everything in half. Cool toy. Silence filled the air as we stood back up and looked at our burning surroundings.

"Wow. I think you should lead with that next time." Rhodey stated as he looked at a cut in half drone.

"Yeah, sorry boss. I can only use it once. It's a one-off." Tony replied as the lasers popped of his wrists.

"Besides, that would be less cool. We have to at least do a little bit of fighting." I stated with a shrug. Rhodey stared at me before turning towards Tony.

"What did you do to this poor kid?"

"I improved her."

"Hey!" I slapped Tony's arm at that.

" _We can talk about how Tony ruined my daughter later. You got one more drone incoming. This one is different. The repulsor signature is significantly higher."_ I was about to protest about the whole 'ruined my daughter' thing, but I was interrupted by a giant iron man suit landing right in front of us. It was taller than Rhodey and Tony and more menacing. The mask folded back and I glared at the pilot.

"That's no drone. That's just a crazed Russian." I grumbled as I stared down the man. He just smiled.

"Good to be back."

"Oh, this ain't gonna be good…" Rhodey mumbled. Just as he said that Ivan swung his hands out, extending his stupid, electric whips.

"No, no. This is gonna be great." I sighed as I pulled out my Bo staff. I did not want to grab those whips again. He would fling me off before I could even begin to melt the things.

"I got something special for this guy. I'm gonna bust his bunker with the ex-wife." I raised my eyebrow at the name of the thing as a little launcher popped up from Rhodey's shoulder as he stepped forward. A tiny missile launched and merely bounced off of Ivan's chest, fizzing out in the water like a bad firework.

"HammerTech?" Tony questioned. Rhodey sighed dejectedly.

"Yeah…"

"Did you name that yourself? I find that offensive to all ex-wives." I pointed out as he turned towards me. I couldn't see his face, but I imagined that he was glaring.

"I got this." Tony mumbled as little missile launchers popped up on both of his shoulders and he shot at Ivan. They did virtually nothing as the Russian closed his mask again and began swinging his whips. He slammed his whip between us, sending us diving towards either side. Rhodey quickly got up and began firing at Ivan who merely cut his big gun in half with his whip.

Tony tried to fly around him, but a whip latched onto his midsection and pulled him back to earth with a slam. I ran up behind Ivan and shot a fire ball at him, but his armor was a lot stronger than the other drones so it merely left a scorch mark before he turned towards me and lashed out his whips.

I dove out of the way as Rhodey began firing again and Tony launched himself straight at Ivan only to be flipped over him. I held up my Bo staff and ran at Ivan. He swung his whip at me only for me to catch it with my staff. Tony used the distraction to come back flying in and began punching the Russian in the face before Ivan managed to head-butt him back.

Ivan lashed out with his whips, wrapping one around Tony's neck before pulling the one on my staff forward. I quickly let go of my staff but he jumped at me right after, kicking me and launching me backwards. I groaned as I slammed into the rock behind me hard. I didn't get a metal suit to protect me. I shook my head with a wince and looked up. My eyes widened when I realized that Ivan had a whip around Tony and Rhodey's necks. I was about to jump in when I heard Tony talk.

"Rhodes! I got an idea. You wanna be a hero?" Rhodey and I both looked at him, confused.

"What?"

"I could really use a sidekick. Put your hand up!" He yelled as he lifted his own. I got the gist of what they were doing and immediately dove for cover.

"This is your idea?!" Rhodey called out incredulously, but he lifted his own hand anyways.

"Yup!"

"I'm ready! Go, go, go!" I heard Rhodey call out before a giant pulse of energy pulsed out from the rock I was hiding behind. I covered my head as an explosion rocked the ground. I waited a few seconds before peeking my head out from behind the rock, checking to see if it was safe.

"You okay kiddo?" Tony asked as he stood up slowly, his suit cut in random places. I nodded before looking over at the prone form of Ivan. His suit's chest was ripped up and steaming as his arc reactor flickered. He looked up at us and I swear that he smirked.

"You lose…" he whispered out. I stared in alarm as his reactor began beeping red. _A bomb!_ Looking around I saw that all the drones were beeping also. I looked towards the others with wide eyes.

"We gotta get out of here!" We all immediately flew off. I heard Tony say something about Pepper and I knew that he was going towards her. I clicked on my earpiece.

"Jarvis, are there any civilians near the drones?!" I yelled out as I flew up.

"I have located two civilians. Ms. Potts and a young boy near your current location." I nodded to myself as Jarvis spoke and immediately looked down below. I scanned the ground before my eyes locked on the little boy with an Iron man mask. He was staring at a beeping drone without legs.

I dove towards him and landed on the ground. He looked up at me in alarm, but I ignored that and bent down to pick him up. Suddenly a heavy weight landed on my back, making me fall forwards with my arms pinned beneath my body. The drone had launched his upper half at me and was holding me down as it continued to beep. I looked at the boy with wide eyes.

"Go, now!" I shouted. He snapped out of his shock and ran off quickly. I tried to get the drone off my back, but it was too heavy and my wings were pinned under its body. I couldn't melt him either without my hands. My breaths became erratic as I panicked. I had to get it off me now!

"Tony, one of them has me pinned! I-I can't get out!" I shouted.

" _What?! Melt it!"_

"I _can't_! My arms are stuck beneath me! I-!" Explosions rocked the ground behind me and I knew the drones were blowing up.

" _ELENA!"_ I clenched my eyes shut.

...

...

...

"I got her Tony, it's okay."

" _Oh my god, I almost had a heart attack!"_

I slowly opened my eyes when I realized that A: I was still alive. And B: I was in someone's arms, flying through the air.

"Are you okay Elena?" I let out a huge sigh of relief when I recognized Rhodey's voice. I gave a nervous laugh.

"Cutting it a little close there Rhodes." I patted his arm. He shrugged.

"It's more dramatic that way." I nodded in agreement with a slight laugh as Rhodey set me down as he landed on a roof. His mask popped up and I saw that he was smirking at something behind us. I looked over and had the same reaction. Tony and Pepper landed near us and didn't know we were here. Yay, free show…not that type of show you perverts.

"Oh my god, I can't take this anymore!" Pepper yelled out hysterically. Tony looked at her with wide eyes.

"You can't?"

"I can't take this!"

"Look at me!" Tony yelled as he pointed at his wrecked suit.

"My body literally cannot handle the stress!" After that it was basically just excuses, Pepper quitting, Tony allowing her to, and how a week working with Tony was like dog years and the presidency. Right after the dog years remark Tony pulled her into a kiss. I closed my eyes, uncomfortable as they started making out before pulling away.

"Weird." I heard Tony state. My eyes were still clenched shut.

"No it's not weird." Pepper replied breathlessly.

"It's okay right? Run that by me again." I could hear them start kissing again before Rhodey interrupted.

"I think it's weird." He stated simply. I raised a hand, still using the other to cover my poor, virgin eyes.

"Ditto."

"You guys look like two seals fighting over a grape." I let out a snort of laughter at that.

"I had just quit, actually." I heard Pepper stumble awkwardly.

"Yeah, so we're not-."

"I don't want to know what you guys are, or aren't doing." I called out. Rhodey chuckled behind me.

"It's okay, we heard the whole thing." He replied. I didn't see how that was okay in the first place, but okay.

"You guys should get lost and Elena, open your eyes. Glad you're okay though kid." I could practically hear him rolling his eyes.

"I'm still not sure if you two are gonna spontaneously start making out again though." I whined.

"Um, who are you anyways?" Pepper asked. My eyes snapped open at that. Right, she didn't know. Welp, no time like the present. I clicked the button on my earpiece and both my mask and glasses retracted. Her eyes widened.

"Eliza?! Wait, Tony called you Elena. What's going on?!" She questioned as she looked between all of us. I looked between her and Tony before pointing a finger at Tony.

"Blame him!" Before jumping off the roof. I heard Pepper shout in alarm which turned into astonishment as I took out my wings and flew off. I was smirking. That's always so much fun.

* * *

I watched from the back of the crowd with a smirk as the judge that cussed at Tony was presenting awards for them.

"It's my honor to be here today to present these distinguished awards to Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes and Mr. Tony Stark, who is, of course, a national treasure." I actually laughed at that part. The poor man looked like he was being tortured.

Tony noticed me in the crowd and gave me a little salute. I saluted back before turning around and walking back to the car that gramps and my mom were waiting in. Nobody knew who the mysterious girl was that helped Iron man and the 'War Machine', as they were calling him, destroy the drones.

I was a secret and I hoped to stay that way. Even after this gramps wouldn't let me go on any SHIELD missions still. I was only able to do this because it wasn't a planned mission and he couldn't control my actions here. My mom still wasn't the happiest camper though. Some people had snapped a few pictures of me and were trying to find out who I was. Still, it wasn't so bad. I even got a new, badass nickname out of this.

 _Phoenix._

* * *

 **That's the end of the Iron man 2 arc! I hope you enjoyed it! Next will be the Thor arc. We'll learn more about Elena's origins and she gets to meet our favorite Asgardian!**


	8. Chapter 8: Land of Enchantment

**Chapter 8: The Land of Enchantment  
**

 **Hey guys! Here's the next chapter. This is going to transition into the Thor storyline. It'll be a shorter thing since it's not one I'm really going to focus on integrating Elena in a lot. I mostly want to get into the Avengers story ^_^ I hope you enjoy! –Cleo  
**

* * *

"You're leaving?" Pepper asked sadly as we sat on one of the couches in the house. Tony and Pepper were both sitting across from me, side by side. We had explained my whole situation about SHIELD. She took it surprisingly well. I also just told the two of them about my trip to New Mexico. I smiled sadly before nodding.

"I'm leaving by tonight. I need answers and this is the only clue we have to getting them. I'll be meeting up with Coulson." I explained as they nodded in understanding. My mom and gramps were waiting outside in the car while I said goodbye. We all stood up and Pepper wrapped her arms around me in a hug.

"Be careful, alright? I need someone that can help me put Tony in his place." I smirked as I hugged back, nodding as Tony snorted.

"As if she controls me." He mumbled. Pepper and I just giggled, knowing that if I used my puppy eyes I could. He walked up to me and also pulled me into a short hug as Pepper stepped away. He rubbed my head to my chagrin before pulling away completely.

"Don't take candy from strangers, pack clean underwear, and make sure to wash your hands after using the restroom." He listed off. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes _mom_." I grumbled. He chuckled.

"Your mom would kill you if she heard you even compared the two of us to each other." He stated with a smirk. I shivered and nodded in agreement as Pepper shook her head.

"I still can't believe that Natalie, or Natasha, is your mom. I guess it makes a lot of sense though." She said as she rubbed her temples. Tony nodded in agreement while I just shrugged with a small giggle.

"We get that a lot. Anyways, I'll make sure to stop by. Tony, be nice to Pepper. And Pepper, try not to kill Tony." I called over my shoulder as I left.

"How come she doesn't say, 'Pepper be nice to Tony'?"

"You know why."

* * *

"Okay, we can leave now. Mom, you sure you don't want to say bye to Tony before you leave?" I asked with a smirk as I stepped into the car. I could see her roll her eyes as she sat in the shotgun seat.

"Oh please. I'm happier the farther we get from him." She stated. I giggled a little. She still really hated him. The fact that I could've been killed helping him probably didn't help at all. I turned to look at the back of gramps' head as he drove.

"So, what's the plan now?" I asked.

"I've arranged for an escort to fly you to New Mexico. There you'll meet up with Coulson who is looking for the exact location of the object. As soon as we know where it is, I'm also sending Barton there for security." He explained. I nodded before my eyes widened as my mom's head simultaneously snapped towards gramps. We both noticed the same detail.

"Wait, what about me?"

"What about my mom?" We asked at the same time. Gramps sighed as he drove into the SHIELD base in Malibu.

"You, Romanoff, are being sent on an espionage mission in Germany. I need you to check up on a growing organization and measure the threat levels." He stated calmly. I still stared at him, surprised that my mom wasn't coming too especially since this is close enough to a mission for her to be worried. Judging by the glare on my mom's face, she definitely wasn't happy.

"Fury, you can't send me on a mission, not now." She practically growled out.

"Agent Romanoff, I can send you on missions when you need to be sent. You're my best agent in espionage and this needs your expertise." Grandpa said with a sigh. I could tell that he was expecting this. All his sentences seemed practiced.

"This is more important to me. My daughter is being sent on a personal mission that is potentially dangerous and life changing for her, I need to be there."

"This is an _order_ Romanoff. I don't want to hear any more about this." I could see gramps clench the wheel tighter as he parked the car and we all sat there. I could tell that this order was one my mom was willing to defy, but I knew that it wouldn't be good if she did so I cut in.

"Mom, its fine. Gramps, what hanger am I meeting with my escort?" I questioned, trying to defuse the situation. My mom looked at me in disbelief while gramps sighed in relief.

"Hanger 2. You have an hour to be packed and ready to go." I nodded at him as we all got out of the car, my mom being scarily quiet. We walked into the base in silence. Gramps turned off to head to the main office while my mom and I walked back to our quarters. We had prepared a room here just in case the house we had in Malibu got compromised or we just needed extra supplies.

We walked into the room and I pulled out a bag before beginning to stuff clothes and weapons into it. I could feel eyes burning holes in my head and soon enough I couldn't take it anymore.

"Yes, mom?" I asked as I stuck my Bo staff and bow into the bag, my Bluetooth already in my ear. I used my Bo staff enough to have it acquainted with the Phoenix, so I would need to use a different weapon when I was trying to hide my identity out in the open. But, I feel like a teenager fighting with a bow would draw attention anyways.

"You should wait until I come back." She stated simply, sitting on the bed. I sighed.

"And what if the something happens to the hammer and it's not there by the time you get back? I need to go as soon as possible." I stated as I grabbed my suit and stuck it in the bag.

"This might be dangerous. We don't know what, or where that thing came from." Mom insisted as she tried to convince me otherwise. I zipped my bag closed with a sigh.

"Mom, I can handle myself. I proved that with Tony. Besides, both Uncle Clint and Uncle Phil will be there. I'll be fine." I smiled at her reassuringly as I sat next to her on the bed. She just nodded with a sigh.

"I know you can, but I just worry. Lately you seem to be a magnet for trouble." Mom grumbled out. I giggled.

"I can't really say that trouble finds me. I do seem to go towards the trouble." I shrugged. She nodded in agreement with a smirk.

"I remember when you first got here. You didn't know what a lot of things were, so you wanted to test them out by going up and touching them for a hands-on experience. I don't even want to know how you even got on that phone pole." I rubbed my head in embarrassment. I was a very curious kid. Just because I was smart doesn't mean I was logical. I was more book smart than anything.

"I swear Uncle Clint told me to do it." I raised my hands in defense. She snorted.

"Sure he did. Clint was an overprotective mama bear more than I was back then. If you so much as sneezed wrong he suggested taking you to the hospital." She stated as she crossed her arms. I laughed. It was true. One time he actually did when I had a bloody nose.

"See? And he'll look out for me during this too. I swear that if there's too much danger I'll let him handle it." I swore as I raised my hand. My mom looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Too much danger isn't in your vocabulary, but I do trust Clint to not get you killed. Coulson can deal with making sure the _both_ of you don't do anything stupid." She smiled as I pouted at her. I wasn't _that_ bad…all the time. I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a hug.

"You be careful on your mission too. You don't have any uncles going with you." I stated. She nodded.

"I will. Unlike a certain someone, I don't enjoy looking for trouble." She pulled back with a smirk. I rolled my eyes.

"I don't _look_ for it. I just…end up going towards it?" I shrugged with a 'what can you do' expression.

"That's not helping me feel better about sending you off to New Mexico." Mom stated simply.

"Wasn't supposed to."

* * *

"Suit?"

"Yes."

"Bow?"

"Yes…"

"Clean underw-?"

"Oh my God, yes! And yes to whatever else you were saying!" I threw my hands up as I cut my mom off. She smirked at me before rubbing my head.

"I'm just messing with you. Stay safe and tell Clint that if there's so much as a scratch on you I will make sure that he doesn't ever have to worry about having kids of his own." I grimaced at the expression on my mom's face. I can't go a day without coming home with some kind of bruise or cut. Uncle Clint had his work cut out for him.

I gave my mom another hug.

"I'll see you later." She kissed the top of my head as she hugged back.

"Call me while you're there. I want to make sure that you're still alive." She stated, only half joking. I nodded before waving as I walked over to the quinjet and got in. My escort, Agent Nelson, smiled at me as she glanced over her shoulder from the pilot's seat.

"Get some rest kid; we'll be there in a couple hours."

* * *

I was awaken by a hand shaking my shoulder.

"Hey, we're here. Agent Coulson's waiting for you in the base right over this hill. I would walk you there myself, but I've gotta get this thing out of here before someone notices." Agent Nelson explained with an apologetic smile. I just smiled tiredly back before I sat up, rubbing my eyes sleepily. The woman tossed me an umbrella.

"You might want to put on a jacket too. It's pouring out there." I nodded in understanding before reaching into my bag and pulling out a rain jacket.

"Thanks for the ride!" I shouted over my shoulder as I opened the umbrella and held it over my head. I stepped off of the jet and had to keep a tight grip on my umbrella to keep it from flying away as the jet lifted off again. I yawned sleepily as I began walking over the hill towards the base. I frowned as I saw lights flashing in the distance. Quickly running up the rest of the hill I looked down and saw that the base was in lockdown which meant there was an intruder.

A movement above the base caught my eye and I smiled as I saw Uncle Clint aiming his bow from his perch. If he was targeting the intruder then it would be fine. He never misses. I glanced to my left and had to do a double-take. _Is that a woman?_ I stared at the woman who was currently lying in the mud trying to keep the rain off of her with her jacket. It wasn't working very well.

I looked between the lit up base and the woman before shrugging and walking over to the stranger. My mom said to stay out of danger and this woman looked much less dangerous than the base. I walked over and the woman's head whipped in my direction when she heard my approach. I saw fear in her eyes before confusion set in and I knew what she was thinking. _What's a kid doing here?_

I ignored the look and walked closer until my umbrella was shielding her from the rain also. She looked surprised as I reached down with one hand and pulled the lady into a kneeling position before handing her the umbrella.

"Oh no, I can't take this." The lady protested and tried to give it back, but I held up my hand.

"Hey, I've got my jacket. Besides, I'm not the one who was lying in the wet mud." Even in the dark I could still see a blush coat her face as she looked down at her current state. I looked back over at the base.

"So, why are you lying in the mud out here in the first place? Judging by the fact that you're staring at the base, I'm guessing that the person in there is a friend of yours." I looked over at the woman as she sighed.

"No, I don't even know why I'm out here! I shouldn't have come with this crazy guy. Erik was right." She groaned as she held her head in her hands. I just stared at her in confusion, but I gathered that she didn't want to be here and regretted it so I wasn't gonna haul her in to Coulson or anything. She looked up at me through her fingers.

"And what's a girl like you doing here? You look a little young to be alone out here." She asked as she pointed towards the base. In a sense, she was right. No normal 14 year old would be out here all alone, giving an umbrella to some strange woman. Then again, I was never a normal child.

"I probably am, but I'm actually supposed to be here anyways. I guess you could say that whatever is here has a more _personal_ tie to me." I smiled at her as she merely looked confused, but anxious. I laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm not in the same boat as whoever the 'crazy guy' that you came here with. In a more normal sense, I'm also visiting my uncles." I reiterated with a shrug. I could practically see her deflate in relief and I giggled again. Suddenly we both looked at the base as a man's scream rang out.

What pulled my attention though was the fact that it wasn't a normal shout. It was the sound of a man who had lost everything, filled with despair and longing. I stared at the base for a couple minutes before turning to the woman who was also transfixed on the sound.

"Well, whatever was going on is over. Can you call a ride?" I asked, standing up.

"I already called my friend. He should be coming to pick me up soon…I think." She mumbled. I pulled out my phone and accessed the satellite tracker.

"What's his number?" I asked as I looked down at her.

"Uh, 505-236-7013. But, you really don't have to call him. I'm sure he'll get my message." She reassured. I entered in the number and waited as the satellite tracked his phone. It zoomed in on the map and I saw a blinking dot moving closer to the crater. I looked back down at the woman with a smile.

"Don't worry; he's on his way right now. I'll make sure nobody accidentally arrests you before he gets here. Just make sure to stay out of sight." I stated as I put away my phone. She was staring up at me incredulously.

"D-did you just…track Erik's phone?" She questioned with wide eyes. I just smiled and winked.

"I never said I was a normal teenager anyways." I waved at her before beginning to walk away. Her shout made me pause.

"Wait! Who are you?" I looked over my shoulder at her.

"Elena…Smith. What about you mud lady?" I asked. I decided not to give out my real last name willy nilly. She already knew that I wasn't normal, so I didn't feel the need to hide my first name. She wouldn't find me in any records anyways.

"Jane Foster." I nodded with a smile before giving her a slight salute.

"Nice to meet you! I hope to see you around!"

* * *

"Well, that looked very interesting." I commented as I walked into the building. Uncle Clint was the first to notice me. A smile grew on his face.

"Hey squirt! I'm still surprised Nat let you come without her." He laughed as he gave me a quick hug. I pulled back before shrugging.

"She didn't have much of a choice, but she did say that if I had a scratch on me when I got back that it would be on your head." I replied smugly as he groaned.

"Great…I'm so dead." He whined as I patted his shoulder sympathetically. Being on my mom's bad side was never a good idea.

"Off the topic of my impending doom, when did you arrive?" Uncle Clint questioned as he put his bow back over his shoulder.

"Long enough to know that an intruder came in and kicked all your butts." I stated with a smirk.

"I could've taken him out at any time! Coulson just didn't call it. Said he wanted to see what happened." He grumbled. I just patted his arm.

"Sure, blame Coulson." I giggled and walked away as he yelled in protest. I walked over to the one-way mirror that lead into the interrogation room, waving to some agents as I walked by. Uncle Phil was in there with a big, buff, long-haired blond.

"You made my men, some of the most highly trained professionals in the world, look like a bunch of minimum-wage mall cops. That's hurtful. In my experience, it takes someone who's received similar training to do what you did to them. Why don't you tell me where you received your training? Pakistan? Chechnya? Afghanistan?" The blond man merely stared blankly at the floor as Coulson continued to question him.

"No, you strike me as more as the soldier of fortune type. Where was it? South Africa? Certain groups pay very well for mercenaries like you. Who are you?" Uncle Phil asked again. The man's eyes went up to meet Coulson's and he stared hard.

"One way or another we find out what we need to know. We're good at that." Uncle Phil was interrupted by his pager beeping. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at it before turning back towards the blond.

"Don't go anywhere." Uncle Phil stated before opening the door behind him and stepping out. He closed the door before turning and smiling at me.

"Hi Elena, I was alerted that you arrived." I smiled before glancing around and quickly hugging him once I saw that no one was looking. He hugged me back slightly before we both pulled away. I looked back towards the blond man.

"Who's he?" I stared at the stranger as he just sat there. For some reason I felt that something was off, but I shrugged it off as nothing.

"He is the intruder who so rudely barged in tonight. Took down at least a dozen of our men before he was taken, willingly might I add." Uncle Phil explained as he nodded towards the man.

"Hawk said that you didn't call it and wanted to see something first. What was it?" I questioned as I glanced at him. He sighed.

"He seemed so sure that something would happen. I almost expected the hammer to come flying out of the rock. This guy was so desperate to get to this hammer that he infiltrated our base and beat up our guys." Uncle Phil stated as he looked into the room. I stared at the blond. There was an inkling at the back of my head that I should know this guy. Like, I've seen him and the hammer before.

 _A blond man walks down a rainbow road…_

 _A hammer in one hand and my hand in the other…_

 _A golden gate opens in front of me…_

 _A woman's kind smile…_

" _My sweet, Elena…"_

I grab my head in pain as the images flash through my mind. The woman's voice echoes in my head as an ache fills my head. I hear a ringing in my ears and for a moment I'm almost scared that I've gone deaf.

"…na?"

"Elena!" My head instantly clears as Uncle Phil grabs my shoulder harshly before turning me towards him. I look at him with wide eyes before looking around. _Oh right, I'm at the base in New Mexico…_

"Elena, what happened? Are you okay?" He asked, concerned as I lowered my hand from my forehead. I forced my breathing to calm down before looking him in the eyes.

"Y-yeah, I'm good. Just a migraine." I mumbled out as I close my eyes and shake my head. When I open my eyes again, I see that Uncle Phil isn't convinced. I give him a reassuring smile before nodding my head towards the man inside the room.

"Don't you have a prisoner to interrogate?" He just stares at me for a second before nodding.

"If you don't feel well then you should go lay down in your room. I set up a room for you in the east wing. It's number 6." I smiled at him gratefully before grabbing my bag and hefting it onto my shoulder.

"Thanks Coulson. Don't worry, I'm fine." I said over my shoulder as I walked away. There was a pause behind me before I heard Uncle Phil enter the room again. I let out a sigh before rubbing my throbbing head. _Ouch…_

I was about to leave the building when I noticed a bunch of random stuff was loaded onto some vans and a table outside. It didn't look like SHIELD's stuff. This stuff looked homemade and efficient. I walked out of the door before glancing at a label on one of the boxes.

 _Jane Foster's_.

I sighed. Of course they had taken her stuff. She must be some sort of scientist. From the looks of it, she's spent years on this. That explains why she was even so desperate to come here with that blond guy in the first place. If someone took my life's work I'd be pretty pissed too. I glanced over the table before a small journal caught my attention.

Picking it up, I flipped through the pages, glancing at the contents. This was some thorough stuff. It talked about the Einstein-Rosen Bridge, atmospheric disturbances, auroras, and lots of interesting stuff. This little journal was jam-packed full of knowledge.

I looked around before slipping it into my pocket. I might not be able to give Jane all her stuff back, but at least I could give her this to make up for what SHIELD did. I was about to turn away before another object caught my eye.

 _What's an iPod doing here?_

* * *

"Wait, you're leaving?" I questioned, looking up at my bow-wielding uncle. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he sighed.

"Yeah, apparently something's come up back at base and I'm needed for something more important than security detail." He explained. I groaned, running my hand through my hair. One of the reasons my mom let me come was because I had both my uncles here to watch my back. She would not be happy to find out that gramps had pulled Hawk out of New Mexico right when I got here.

"I don't know who mom's gonna kill first; gramps or you." I said in exasperation. He visibly flinched at that and immediately grabbed my shoulders, turning me towards him.

"Please tell her that it wasn't my fault. I'm too pretty to die." He whined pathetically. I snorted in amusement at the sight. I always treasured those moments that I had power over the others in my pseudo family. Growing up surrounded by spies and assassins has done wonders for my manipulative side. Patting his hands, I rolled my eyes.

"Sure, sure; I'll blame it all on gramps. But, you have to get Aunt Laura to make her chocolate cake for my next birthday." I replied with a smile. I had found out about Hawk's own family a few years back and was introduced to his wife and two kids, Lila and Cooper.

It was fun playing with my younger 'cousins' and Aunt Laura was really nice. She also made really good food too. Now, we usually have get-togethers at their house.

Uncle Clint rolled his eyes at my request before patting my head. "I'll tell her. She probably would've done it anyways; sometimes I think she loves you more than me." He said with a pout. I giggled and just shrugged.

"She probably does. You're not that hard to beat." After a few protests about my last statement he hugged me and then left for the quinjet back to base. I waved at his retreating back before sighing and going to find Coulson. _I hope mom doesn't kill Uncle Clint later…_

* * *

"His name is Donald Blake?" Uncle Phil asked as he stared the elder man down in obvious disbelief. I was standing off to the side, hidden in the shadows.

"Uh, Dr. Donald Blake." The man corrected.

"You have dangerous coworkers Dr. Selvig." Uncle Phil stated in a monotone. Dr. Selvig threw his hands up like 'what can you do'.

"He was distraught when he found out you've taken all our research. That was years of his life, gone! You can understand how a man could go off like that." Selvig continued, unaware that some agents were looking into this whole thing right now.

"A big, faceless organization like yours coming in with their jackbooted thugs…" He paused at Uncle Phil's blank stare while I held back my laughter despite being part of this 'jackbooted thug' organization.

"…That's how he put it." Selvig mumbled. Judging by the topic of this conversation I was guessing that this guy was a friend of Jane's. He was probably that Erik guy I had tracked earlier.

"That still doesn't explain how he managed to tear through our security."

"Steroids! He's a bit of a fitness nut." I rolled my eyes at Erik's excuse. SHIELD agents were fitness nuts too. A beeping noise caught my attention from the computer. I glanced over at the screen and my suspicions were confirmed. Selvig had falsified Dr. Donald Blake's id. Uncle Phil glanced over at it before turning towards Erik.

"It says here that he's an MD." He lied. It said physician. I saw a flash of panic cross Selvig's face as he fished for an excuse.

"Well, he is! Or he was! He, uh, switched careers and became a physicist. A brilliant physicist! He's a wonderful man. He's a man in pain." Selvig insisted as he corrected himself. Uncle Phil looked at him and I saw the gears turning in his head. He was planning something.

* * *

Uncle Phil had let Selvig take 'Donald Blake'. I don't know what he was thinking, but I didn't question it either. Coulson always had a plan behind everything he did. After they walked back to Selvig's care, Uncle Phil turned towards some of the other agents.

"Follow them." He ordered. The agent nodded before going to his car as well. Uncle Phil turned towards me.

"So, I've heard that you had a little encounter with Jane Foster recently." He stated before turning towards the computer behind me. On it was a picture from earlier when I had given her my umbrella. I nodded. I expected him to know.

"Yeah, she's nice." I shrugged. He nodded before examining me, probably to see if I was okay after that migraine earlier. He seemed satisfied and put his hand on my shoulder.

"There's been a change in plans. After everything tonight, I feel that Jane Foster is probably the one who will be able to get a handle on whatever is going on here even without her stuff. You're the only person in this group that she might trust. I want you to go there and keep an eye on things." He stated calmly. I raised an eyebrow before putting a hand on my hip.

"You know that if I do this, I'm doing it my way. I'm not going to get all nice with her just because you need info. I'm going to be nice because I think she's a nice person. I'll contact you if anything big pops up, but I'm not going to call you every minute to tell you that she went to the bathroom." I stated firmly. He seemed to stare me down before relenting.

"Fine, I have other agents watching her every move. I just need you to know the sensitive stuff." I nodded in agreement as a smile formed on my face. Glancing over at the truckload of stuff I looked back at him.

"Can't we give her stuff back?" I asked as I looked over all the equipment. Uncle Phil shook his head.

"I feel that whatever is going on will be solved better if she doesn't have her nose stuck in her books. Without all her notes she'll be forced to think outside of the box and I think that's where the real answers are found." He explained before pointing at my pockets.

"Besides, I think that her notebook will be enough." I blushed at being caught. He was good. I rubbed my head with a nervous laugh.

"Right, okay I'll just go now. Thanks Coulson!" I waved over my shoulder as I walked out of the building. I heard him chuckle behind me as I left with my bag. I covered my suit with some looser, regular clothes before strapping my Bo staff to my belt just in case the Phoenix needed to make an appearance. I strapped my bow handle next to it before sticking my Bluetooth in my ear and extending my goggles over my eyes. I tapped the side, enabling the night vision feature before sprouting my wings and taking off.

Luckily the clothes I was wearing already had holes in the back for my wings as I flew freely through the sky and headed back towards the town. I wasn't worried about anyone seeing me. It was dark and deserted out here. Even if they managed to get a picture SHIELD would take care of it before it even hit the web. Perks of living with hackers and being a hacker.

I was flying for only a few minutes before I arrived at Jane's lab. It was completely empty, no one home. I stared around in confusion before looking around the side of the lab and I saw an RV. She must've been staying in there while her lab was empty. I patted my pockets to make sure the items were still there as I retracted my wings and my glasses. It would be awkward if I didn't have it. _Oh, Jane! By the way I got your book! Here-…oh it looks like I lost it. Sorry._

That would not go over well. Reassured that I still had _both_ items, I stepped around the building and headed towards the RV. I heard some talking going on and I recognized Jane's as I walked up to the door and raised my hand to knock. I knocked three times before waiting.

The door practically flew open, revealing Jane's surprised face. Surprise morphed into recognition as she saw me standing there. I waved.

"Hi, Jane! Nice to see you again." I greeted with a smile. She stood frozen for a second before the big blond from earlier touched her shoulder.

"Jane, who is this young lady?" he questioned as he stared at me. I noticed that he had an accent too. Again, I got the feeling that I knew this guy, but I brushed it off before another migraine could hit me. He seemed to shake Jane out of her stupor.

"Oh! Thor, this is Elena. Elena, meet Thor." She stated as she waved between us. Oh, so his name's Thor, like the god of thunder. Interesting. Thor stared at me for a second, almost like he recognized me too, before bowing.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Elena." I waved off his actions.

"You don't have to bow or anything, not like I'm royalty." I stated with a slight smirk. Jane stepped in, confused.

"Elena, what are you doing here? You always seem to be alone whenever we meet." She stated, looking around for anyone else. I shrugged before glancing in the cramped RV and looking back up at the two adults.

"Do you two want to talk outside? I feel like it's kinda cramped in there."

* * *

"I come up here sometimes when I can't sleep, or when I'm trying to reconcile particle data, or when Darcy's driving me crazy…I come up here a lot actually now that I think about it." Jane stated with a slight laugh. We were on top of her lab with a fire going.

"So, why are you here Elena?" Jane asked as she turned to look at me. I was sitting closer to the fire than the other two. Of course, because of my powers fire didn't really scare me. I reached into my right coat pocket and pulled out the journal, handing it over. Jane grabbed it in shock.

"Oh my god, I don't believe it!" She stated in shock as she flipped through the pages.

"I snagged it from the base. Sorry, I would've brought more but it was all I was allowed to take." I smiled. She shook her head.

"No, no this is great! This is…I don't have to start from scratch now. Thank you." Jane smiled at me gratefully and I spotted Thor smiling as he looked at her face. _Awww._ Jane kept on staring at her book in awe, but her smile lowered as she seemed to contemplate something. Turning to me, she began to talk.

"But, how did you get this? What exactly is SHIELD? And who are you in SHIELD? I'm sorry if I'm being invasive, but I can't help but be a little skeptical." She questioned. I nodded. It was a fair point. Obviously I couldn't tell her a lot, but I would tell her as much as I could.

"SHIELD is…well, there isn't an exact definition for it. And to be honest, I don't know exactly what it is either. But, I can say that it's my life. I've been there since I was a kid. I was raised in that environment." I explained. That seemed to surprised Jane much more than Thor.

"What? But what about your parents? Are you some sort of child spy?" She asked, in a concerned and exaggerated way. Thor shrugged.

"I do not know what this 'spy' is, but where I come from there are people who've been training to fight since they were much smaller than her." He stated. I looked at him when he said 'where I come from'. I read a little of Jane's journal, so I knew the theory of a bridge to another world. I just decided to keep an open mind with everything. I went back to Jane's questions.

"I was saved by SHIELD when I was 7 years old. I was adopted into it you could say. Some people out there are targeting me, so yes I had to learn to fight. But, I'm not a tool. I had the choice to leave, but I'm not going to. I'm not a normal teenager and I never will be. I've learned to just roll with the punches. I had as good of a childhood as any kid, so you don't have to feel sorry for me or anything. It's not like they stuck me into hardcore training to be a cold-hearted killer." I stated with a smile as I looked at Jane. _Well…they did stick me in training when I was like 8, but for totally legit reasons!_

She looked like she wanted to protest and give me an hour rant about why I should leave the organization, but I gave her a look that said I wasn't going to change my mind. She gave up with a sigh.

"I can't tell you how to live your life. But, you're a good kid Elena and I would hate to see your life be darkened because you stayed with SHIELD." She explained. Thor looked at her and frowned before turning to me.

"I do not think I know enough to give an opinion, but if this will lead your life down a path that will ruin you I do not condone going along with it." He stated as he looked me in the eye. Geez, he talked like he was some guy from a Shakespearean play.

"I understand why you think that, but trust me when I say that I'm better in SHIELD than out of it." I stated firmly. Jane sighed but nodded while Thor accepted my answer. I looked between the two of them and decided to give them some privacy.

"Well, I think I'm gonna head out for tonight. I'll come by tomorrow morning to talk about some other things. You two have fun now! And Jane, don't give up on your research." I smiled over my shoulder before waving and walking off. I vaguely heard Thor agree with me and begin to reassure Jane. I felt like he was giving some information to her that Coulson would love to hear, but hey, I didn't hear any of it so there's nothing to report.

I flew over to the top of another building and lay down, staring at the stars. My wings made a pretty warm blanket as I crossed my wings over my body. I couldn't shake that familiar feeling that Thor gave me, but I didn't remember anything so that didn't help. Tomorrow I was going to ask Thor about the mark on my back.

Since he seemed to know the hammer, maybe he'll know the mark too. I didn't want to admit it, but a part of me was worried that I would find nothing. And another part of me was scared that I would.

* * *

 **That's a wrap on chapter 7, hope you enjoyed!**


	9. Chapter 9: Wings and Robots

**Chapter 9: Wings and Robots**

 **Hey guys! So I just realized that I totally uploaded the wrong chapter for chapter 7 originally…my bad** **. So, if you read 'Land of Enchantment' for chapter 7**

 **PLEASE GO BACK AND READ THE NEW CH. 7!**

 **Anyways, to make up for that and my extreme lag in updates I uploaded two chapters today! I don't know if the second one exactly counts since it was the original chapter 7, but oh well. Enjoy!-Cleo  
**

* * *

"Elena, meet Darcy and Erik." Jane said as she pointed at the two sitting at the tables. I recognized Erik, and Darcy must've been the brunette. She looked like a college hipster. They waved at me and I smiled and waved back before reaching into my pocket and pulling out an ipod.

"I'm guessing that this belongs to you." I tossed the thing over to Darcy who caught it with wide eyes and cradled it like it was her baby.

"My precious! Thanks so much kiddo!" She shouted happily as she looked back over at me. I nodded, ignoring the 'kiddo' comment. A lot of people seemed to call me that for some reason.

"No problem, the thing was just sitting there so I figured nobody would miss it if I returned it." I stated. She smiled at me again before plugging in her headphones and going through the music. I turned towards Thor who was watching the whole thing with a smile.

"So, now I have some questions for you or more specifically, the hammer." I said as he looked at me. His face fell slightly at the mention of the hammer but he nodded and we sat at the table. Darcy looked up confused.

"Mew mew?" She asked. Now it was my turn to be confused.

"…What?"

"She means Mjolnir." Erik supplied. I nodded in understanding. I liked Mew mew better.

"Mew's my favorite pokemon." I stated with a smile. She smirked.

"I like you!" Darcy announced as she patted my head happily. I laughed at her excitement before looking back at Thor and Jane. Grabbing a piece of paper from my pocket I drew the mark from my back onto it before handing it to Thor.

"Does this mean anything to you?" I asked as I watched his face. His eyes widened and I knew that he recognized it. Jane looked like she knew a little about it to and decided to help me out.

"That's a triquetra, the trinity knot. It's used in many art forms and religious practices. Why do you want to know?" She asked as she tilted her head a little. Thor seemed to come out of his reverie.

"It is not just that, it is also a symbol known to also be connected to my father, Odin." Now it was my turned to be surprised. _Whoa, wait what?_ I groaned and held my head in my hands.

"Okay, can someone please explain what's going on? Thor? Odin? This is all Norse mythology stuff." I mumbled. Glancing up at Jane I saw her glance over at Thor nervously before turning towards me.

"Um…actually there was something we needed to talk to all of you about."

* * *

Once Jane and Thor finished their explanation I stared at them.

"So let me get this straight. Thor is actually the god of lightning and Odin's son, his special hammer is the one in the crater, and he's was kicked out of Asgard, one of the 9 realms by his dad. Am I correct?" They both nodded while Darcy and Erik were still staring, confused. I looked between the both of them.

"Cool!" I shouted enthusiastically as I fist pumped. That was actually one of the most awesome things I've ever heard. I got to meet a god! How many people can say that? I jumped up and immediately went over to Thor.

"How long do you guys live? Are you really old? How'd you get here? What's the triquetra?" My questions shot out of my mouth as I tilted my head in curiosity. Everyone stared at me including Thor. He seemed to shake out of it though and smiled at me.

"Our physical ages slowly progress after the age of 21, but we live long lives. I probably am old to you mortals. I came to be here through the Bifrost. And again, it's the symbol of Odin." He counted off the number of answers on his fingers to make sure he got them all. Satisfied, he turned back to me. The others were staring at the both of us now. Probably because I talked so fast that they couldn't understand a word I said. It made me wonder how Thor understood it.

"Why do you wish to know?" I was broken out of my thoughts at Thor's question. I rubbed the back of my head nervously before looking around. I highly doubted that anyone here would go posting pictures of my wings if I exposed them…well, maybe Darcy.

But, I trusted Jane to be able to reel her in. Glancing at the roof I could see two SHIELD agents watching our every move. I sighed. Coulson would not like this, but if there was any chance Thor could tell me where I came from it would be worth it.

"Okay, just…promise to not freak out." I smiled nervously as I took a slight step back. They all looked at me in confusion before nodding. Taking a deep breath I extended my wings to full size. Everyone gasped and Darcy dropped the cup she was holding.

"Dude, that is like the coolest thing…ever." She whispered in awe as she stared at my wings. I laughed at that. Glad she wasn't freaked out at least. Erik just cradled his head and started mumbling something about heart problems. Jane was the next to move.

"This is amazing! They actually fly too? Wow!" She began rambling about the possibilities that could be opened by studying my wings and I flinched.

"Uh, I don't think I actually want anyone else to know about this besides you and SHIELD." I stated, looking at the ground. Jane cut her rant short and stared at me. I could see she was about to protest and say something along the lines of it being 'beneficial towards science', so I cut her off.

"I just have…bad experiences. Let's leave it at that." I said as I looked her in the eyes. Surprise filled them before understanding, sympathy, and an undercurrent of anger took its place.

"I understand. And don't worry, I'm sure no one here will say anything." Cue pointed look at Darcy who had snatched her phone out. Darcy raised her hands in surrender before putting it away. I giggled before turning towards Thor who was still staring at me without saying a word.

"Thor?" I asked gently as I waved in front of his face. I squeaked in surprised as he suddenly enveloped me in a giant bear hug, squishing my tiny frame into him. My arms flailed at my sides. _Ack! I need air!_ I looked to Jane for help.

"Uh, Thor? I think you're squishing her." Jane stated as she lightly pulled on his arm. He immediately released me.

"Oh, I apologize. I forgot my strength for a moment." He said with a small smile as he put his hands on my shoulders as I gasped for breath. I just nodded at him while slowing my breathing.

"It's…all good…Now, what was that for?" I questioned as I caught my breath and stood up straight. He smiled at me sadly.

"I did not think that I would ever see you again. After what happened, we feared that you were lost forever." He stated, just confusing me more. I took a step back.

"Wait, what? How do you know me? Lost forever? What happened?" This all sounded really depressing. I was hoping that my life before being captured with the KGB was at least nice. Thor motioned for me and Jane to sit down before continuing.

"Have you ever heard of Valkyries?" He asked as he looked me in the eye. I shrugged.

"A little. I know that they take warriors who are worthy to Valhalla after death." He nodded.

"Yes. Valhalla is the dwelling place of the Valkyries and is ruled by the goddess, Lady Freyja. Lady Freyja is known to have two daughters, Gersemi and Hnoss." I tilted my head. I was still confused.

"Okay, but what does this have to do with me?" I questioned. His gaze shifted to my wings.

"Lady Freyja is _known_ to have two daughters, but in reality, she has three. There is only one group of people that I know that has wings, and that is the royal family of Valhalla. The family of Lady Freyja. You specifically, are the third daughter." He finished. I stared at him in shock…Oh.

"WAIT, WHAT?!" I stood up quickly and stared at him with wide eyes as I finally processed what he meant. Jane looked like she thought this was all fascinating and Darcy and Erik looked like they've had enough of this crap. Thor lifted his hands in a placating manner.

"Elena, I know this is all very confusing, but please calm yourself. I promise I will explain all I know." He stated as he looked me in the eyes. I held my head and began pacing back in forth. Okay, so I was apparently from Valhalla, daughter the goddess Freyja, and I'm a Valkyrie. No biggie right? This wasn't helping at all. I groaned as I rubbed my forehead before I sat down.

"Ugh, just go on with it. I feel like my head is going to explode…" I grumbled. He looked at me weirdly. I rolled my eyes.

"I don't mean literally 'explode'. It's just a saying." I explained. He nodded in understanding.

"Ah, you Midguardians have the strangest sayings. In regards to my earlier statement, you were born to Lady Freyja in Valhalla many years ago. You were Elena Freyjadottir. My family went there to give our regards as your mother was a good friend of my father. You spent your first few years growing up in the halls of you home. But, a few months from your 4th birthday, disaster struck." Thor's face darkened as he glared at the table in front of him.

"There was a banquet held in honor of another victory for my father. Your family came to honor him. Lady Freyja had presented a gift for him. It was a velvety golden cloak that shimmered in the light. It was a magnificent sight to behold. Lady Freyja herself was going to place the cloak on my father, but he told her that she need not trouble herself. He ordered one of the servants to do it for her.

The servant went up and grabbed the cloak, his hand brushing the inside of it. Immediately the flesh began to burn off of his skin as he screamed in agony. He was dead within minutes. People began to turn on Lady Freyja, claiming that she had attempted to kill my father even though she swore that she had no part in this.

My father wanted to believe her, but no evidence could be retrieved to prove her innocence. He refused to kill her as the people demanded, so instead he decided on a different punishment. He would send Lady Freyja's third and youngest daughter to Midguard forever. He blocked your memories of your time in Valhalla and, to make sure that your mother could never find you, he cloaked your presence so that only Heimdall could see you. Lady Freyja was outraged. She tried to find you and stop this, but by then my father had already cast you out. She has never forgiven him for that." Thor finished solemnly.

My hands were clenched as I stared at the table. My mind was racing with different thoughts. I couldn't stop the rage that began to course through me. Odin had banished a 3 year old to earth, alone. He took me from my home and my family and because of him I had to endure four years of torture and pain at the hands of those scientists.

But, there was also gratitude. Because of Odin, I got to meet my new family. I got to make new friends and have new experiences. Was I pissed at Odin still? Of course! But, my mom always told me "You can't change the past, but you can move on to the future." I couldn't change what had happened, and honestly I didn't think I wanted to. I like the life I live. I don't want to be Elena Freyadottir, I wanted to be Elena Romanoff.

I finally lifted my head and examined the others. Thor looked worried, Jane looked downright pissed, Darcy looked like she wanted to go all terminator on Odin's ass, and Erik just looked sympathetic.

"How could he send a _3 year old_ girl all alone-!"

"If that guy shows his face around here I'll be all like 'Hyah! Pow!' right in the schnoz." Darcy interrupted Jane's rant with very animated fight moves. I laughed at that.

"Nobody's hitting any schnozes." I giggled a little as she pouted at that. I found the visual of Darcy punching a Norse god in the face hilarious.

"Well, I reserve first dibs anyways." I added with a shrug as I thought about it. Just because Odin's choice turned out for the best didn't mean I didn't want to give the guy a piece of my mind. You don't just go banishing 3 year olds from their home. Plus, you don't banish your son just because he made bad choices. Odin has a banishing problem.

Darcy grumbled at my statement before nodding in agreement. Jane huffed and crossed her arms while Erik patted my shoulder. I smiled at him gratefully while Thor stared at me. I could tell that he wanted to know what's happened to me here on earth, but he understood that I wouldn't just spill my life story to him right away. I'm not the little Elena he knew and I never would be again. I retracted my wings, about to say something, when a loud banging noise drew all our attentions to the glass doors.

"Found you!" I stared, mouth gaping at the four people outside the doors. There were three men and one woman, all dressed in armor might I add. The woman waved enthusiastically as they all smiled. _What the hell?!_

Erik dropped his mug, crashing on the floor as he turned. Jane literally jumped and Darcy just gaped.

"My friends!" Thor yelled out happily as he ran up and began hugging them. I was currently trying to get my brain to work. There was _way_ too much happening today.

"Oh, excuse me. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three." The stocky, bearded one announced. I took the time to notice that he had an axe in hand. Lovely. We all shared looks as Thor began to talk.

"My friends, I have never been happier to see you. But, you should not have come." He finished, his smile falling slightly. The four strangers looked at each other in disbelief, laughing it off.

"We're here to take you home." The blond one said with a smile. Thor's hand fell from his friend's shoulder as he looked at them.

"You…you know I can't go home. My father is…dead, because of me. I must remain in exile." I had to hold back a small gasp at that. I didn't know Odin died. I saw Thor's eyes flicker to Jane as he said this, guilt written on his face. The woman, Sif I think, looked at Thor in confusion.

"Thor, your father still lives."

* * *

"Guys, what's that?" I interrupted the silence as I heard a storm brewing in the distance. I pointed out the door at a tornado that was forming. But, I knew this wasn't a tornado. Tornadoes don't randomly appear in the desert in seconds. From what Thor and Jane said, I'm guessing that that's the Bifrost.

We all walked to the doors and looked out at the storm as it crashed into the ground. It had something in it, something big.

"Was somebody else coming?" Darcy questioned in a nervous voice. I saw lights pop up in the distance and I vaguely heard explosions as we all stepped out into the street. I heard a beeping in my ear. I clicked my earpiece to answer the call.

"Hello? What's going on?" I did the best to keep my voice calm as I spoke, but seeing all those explosions out there wasn't happening.

"Elena!" I sighed in relief at Uncle Phil's voice, but I got worried again as I heard explosions in the background.

"Coulson! Where are you?! What're those explosions?!"

"Listen, you have to get out of there! This giant robot thing is coming towards town! Get to-!" His voice cut off and I panicked as static filled the call.

"Coulson?! Uncle Phil?!" I yelled into the earpiece, hoping to hear him answer, but all that came was more static. I reached up slowly and ended the call. I clenched my fists. _He's not dead…he's not dead…_ Uncle Phil _couldn't_ die. I know he's okay. I looked down the road and saw a giant, metal, robot thing. It had spikes along its arms and back and it was terrifying.

I gulped as I looked back at the others who had begun planning as I took my call.

"-I can help get these people to safety." Thor announced as he talked to the other Asgardians.

"Well if you're staying, so am I." Jane stated as she stepped forward, daring someone to say otherwise. She looked at me as I stepped back into the group.

"But, Elena, you should leave." She said as we locked eyes. I would've rolled my eyes right then if the situation wasn't so serious.

"Jane, I can take care of myself. If you're allowed to stay, then I should be too. I'm tougher than I look." I saw the four Asgardians eyes widen as I extended my wings. This time I actually did roll my eyes.

"Yes, yes. I'm the long lost daughter of Freyja and a Valkyrie. We've gone over this already." I waved it off casually. I decided to just push that issue to the back of my mind for now. Some people might call it denial, I call it healthy procrastination.

"Lady Elena!" the four gasped out before kneeling.

"Goodness gracious, now is not the time for bowing! We've got a killer robot on our hands!" I groaned as I grabbed the nearest person's arm and pulled them to their feet. It happened to be Sif. She's the only one I actually know the name of. I clicked my earpiece before pulling off my baggy clothes, revealing the suit underneath as my goggles and mask clicked into place. I grabbed my bo staff.

"Phoenix! I thought the whole wing thing was familiar!" Darcy snapped in realization as she stared at me. I nodded before winking.

"Yup! Just try not to post anything about me. I'm trying to stay incognito." I stated as she reached for her phone again, but nodded with a pout. The others all looked very confused so I just shrugged.

"You could say I have an alias for when I go kicking butt." I said as I smirked behind my mask. Only Jane and Erik seemed to get it while the Asgardians still looked confused. Superheroes probably aren't a thing on Asgard since everyone is a god. I just waved it off.

"So, let's get to work."

* * *

The four strangers went to go distract the robot while me and the others went to go evacuate. With my wings I could get to people faster. We began loading trucks up with people and telling them to get out of town as fast as we could. I handed a child to Thor as I glanced over at where the fight was going on. It looked like they were losing, and badly.

I frowned as I saw the robot shoot a giant laser out of its face and knock Sif and the men into different buildings. I saw the bearded, axe guy get knocked away by the back of the robot's hand. He lay dazed in a restaurant as the robot began to aim at him with its freaky laser beam again. I quickly launched myself at the building, flying through the broken windows, and grabbing the man before heaving him out of the building just as it exploded behind me.

I grunted as the force of the explosion knocked me into a car outside and pain filled my right side. Some glass shards cut me as the windows broke even more and a buzz filled my ears. Looking to my side I sighed in relief that the axe guy was alive. I lifted my head and looked at the town. Smoke was rising from the burning buildings, cars were destroyed, and everything was just a mess.

I closed my eyes and shook my head as the buzz left my ears and I heard the sounds of the fire and explosions. I looked at my hands after seeing the robot thing shoot another laser. That laser was just heat, right? I've never tried to stop something as powerful, but maybe I could. Looking over again I shivered as I saw the metal robot shoot the beam at a gas station, blowing it to smithereens. _Yeah…never mind._

I looked up as someone shook my shoulder, it was the blond man.

"Are you injured badly Lady Elena?" I shook my head in response and pushed myself up. I shrugged off the blond's hand and shot him a smile as he tried to help me.

"Thanks, but I'm fine. And just call me Elena." I stated before turning to the left. The Asian guy with spikey hair put the axe guy's arm around his shoulder and the blond quickly went to help. We walked out of the alleyway and immediately were met by Thor.

"You must return to Asgard! You have to stop Loki." He ordered as he grabbed the arms of his friends. The blond man frowned.

"What about you?" He question. Thor smiled.

"Don't worry my friends, I have a plan." Which means I have a terrible plan that you won't like. I glared at him as the other three retreated and he locked eyes with me.

"Lady Elena, you should fall back with them." I rolled my eyes at the use of the title.

"Thor, just call me Elena. Just because my birth mom is a goddess doesn't mean I'm a 'Lady'. And, I'm staying right here. You're not my king or my boss, so you can't tell me what to do." I smirked at that part. He glared at me before huffing.

"…Fine, but you must stay here and not interfere. I must speak to my brother." He announced. I frowned, but nodded in agreement. He smiled reassuringly at me before walking out into the open, right up to the robot. He slowed his steps and began to speak as we all watched.

"Brother, whatever I have done to wrong you, whatever I have done to lead you to do this, I am truly sorry. But these people are innocent. Taking their lives will gain you nothing. So take mine and end this." I gasped. Thor was planning to die? That was the big plan?! I clenched my fist as the robot began charging up. I would fly out there and try to block the laser if that thing fired.

I prepared to take off, but the robot's body stopped glowing and it stopped charging the laser. I almost sighed in relief, but I suddenly had a bad feeling in my stomach. I knew that something bad was about to happen. I looked as the metal man began to turn away, but a twitch in its arm told me what was about to happen. I launched myself at the two figures.

"THOR!" I shouted just as the robot began to turn back and swing his arm. Everything happened in slow motion. Thor's eyes widened as the arm came at him, and I tackled him. But, as I tackled him the robot's arm caught my gut and I felt the spikes pierce me as I was flung backwards.

"Elena!" I vaguely heard Jane shout in the background as I hit the floor hard. Pain exploded in my torso and head and the blood dripped from the wounds as I lay there. Blackness began to creep in my vision as I began to feel the blood-loss.

 _Am I…dying?_

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the metal man approaching and fear filled me. It began charging its laser and I felt my eyes begin to close as a body covered mine to protect me. There was the boom of lightning in the distance.

… _Well, this sucks.  
_

* * *

 _Beep…_

 _Beep…_

 _Beep…_

I groaned as the repetitive noise lulled me out of my sleep. Blinking rapidly, I slowly opened my eyes to look at my surroundings. I was in one of SHIELD's hospital rooms it looked like. I sighed in relief and deflated onto my bed. _At least I'm not dead…wait, what happened to the others?!_

I sat up quickly in alarm and immediately regretted it as I groaned and clenched my side. Looking down I saw that my entire torso was wrapped in bandages. Huh, those are gonna be some wicked scars. My attention was drawn to the doorway as Coulson entered. I smiled at him, relieved that he was okay.

"What's the verdict doc?" I asked as he walked to my bedside. He rolled his eyes at me before handing me a chart.

"A couple broken ribs, two puncture wounds to the side, and a slight concussion. You're lucky it wasn't worse." Uncle Phil sighed as he sat down in a chair. He wasn't Agent Coulson right now, he was my Uncle Phil. I smiled at him apologetically.

"Sorry Uncle Phil. Like I told my mom, I swear I don't look for trouble, I just happen to stumble into it." I offered with a shrug. He rolled his eyes with a slight smile before a smirk overtook his face, making me nervous.

"Speaking of your mom, guess who was on the first flight to New Mexico from Germany?" My eyes widened and I groaned, deflating into my bed.

"She's gonna kill me…" I mumbled as I stared at the ceiling. Now she's gonna be even _more_ hesitant to send me out alone. Great, just what I needed. House arrest.

"That would be counterproductive. But, she will probably put you on 24/7 watch for the next couple weeks." I glared at Uncle Phil as he just smiled at me. He was _so_ not helping. My thoughts drifted back to Thor and I sat up again, ignoring the pain.

"What happened after I went down? What happened to the others?" I questioned as I looked him in the eye.

"After you were hit Thor went to protect you from the metal man we now know as the Destroyer. We don't know exactly what happened next, but Thor somehow regained his powers and his hammer. He managed to eliminate the threat before going back with his friends to Asgard to stop Loki. He hasn't returned since then. It's been a couple days." Uncle Phil explained with a neutral face. I blinked in surprise.

Thor didn't come back? But what about Jane? He wouldn't just leave her, at least not without a good reason. I could see that they both loved each other even at my age. Something must've happened. I shook my head, pushing down my worry for the Norse god. I looked back up at Uncle Phil.

"What about Jane, Darcy, and Erik? How are they?"

"You'll be happy to know that Ms. Foster has had all her stuff returned. She and her associates are back to working at the lab. They've requested to be informed when you woke up, so I'll notify them once I leave. Anything else?" He asked as I nodded in understanding. I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly.

"Uh…When's my mom supposed to arrive?" Suddenly our attention was drawn to some crashing noises and the sounds of Russian yelling.

" _Agent Romanoff! Agent Coulson has requested complete privacy during his-!"_

" _Это выглядит_ _как я_ _наплевать_ _(Does it look like I give a damn)?"_ The cold, monotone voice of my mom sounded through the walls and I saw Uncle Phil give me a small smirk.

"Looks like she's here."

* * *

"-most idiotic things you've ever done, even more idiotic then when you were helping Stark because at least you had two highly capable metal men to back you up. This time all you had were three scientists, a powerless god, and three dress-up warriors." I flinched as my mom continued her rant. Only she would be able to do a rant in complete monotone and still sound scary. I swear it had been hours, but in reality it was only a few minutes. The gist of it was I'm stupid, I could've been killed, and I need to find better friends.

"Mom, I already told you. I wasn't in any of the _real_ fighting. I just got hurt because I tackled Thor out of the Destroyer's way."

"And that's better? Even if he lost his powers he's still a _god_ no matter how strange that notion is…" She rubbed the bridge of her nose as she mumbled that last part. I was about to state that I was too, but then I remembered that she had no idea about that. Mom, of course, noticed the hesitation on my face.

"Elena? What is it?" She questioned as she crossed her arms. I contemplated lying, but I mentally laughed at the idea. Me getting away with lying to the infamous Black Widow who also happened to be my mother? Right, funny…well, maybe I can distract her from the 'you're an idiotic lunatic' rant.

I sighed. "It's a _really_ long story…"

* * *

My mom merely stared at me as I finished my explanation of my wings and what Thor had told me. I cautiously tried to gauge her reaction as she stayed silent. The silence continued and I began to fidget in my bed, very uncomfortable by now. Finally my mom let out a sigh and sat in the chair at my bedside.

"…That's a lot to take in." She mumbled. I snorted as I folded my arms.

"Yeah? How do you think I'm feeling?" I retorted as she rubbed her temples. I never would've expected to find all this stuff out just a week ago. My brain honestly felt like it had been through the grinder.

"How _are_ you feeling? Physically and mentally." She asked as she leaned forward on her elbows, examining my wounds. I shrugged in response.

"Physically, the painkillers are working well and I'm mostly just sore with a massive headache. Mentally? I think I could go for a vacation." I sighed. She smiled sympathetically before leaning over and giving me a slight hug.

"I bet, but I just want you to know that no matter what your past is, you're still my daughter and I don't care if you're some sort of goddess' daughter. We'll take this one step at a time." She promised as she gave me a squeeze before pulling away. I deflated in relief. Taking things slowly sounded great. I would be fine if we just never brought up the subject again. It was too weird to think about.

"I think that'll be just fine." I sighed in agreement. My mom looked at me for a moment before leaning down and giving me a hug. I wrapped my arms around her in response as she spoke into my hair.

"I was really worried after Fury contacted me in Germany. Next time I'm coming with you, no arguments." She said with a tone that left no room for protests. Not that I would anyways. If getting a robot stab wound to the side wasn't a good teaching agent, I don't know what is.

"Now, I believe I was chewing you out for being stupid. By the way, you're grounded indefinitely young lady. Just because you're 'royalty' doesn't mean I can't ground your ass."

"…Dammit."

* * *

 **And that's a wrap on chapter 9, hope you enjoyed! We won't be jumping straight into the Avengers movie just yet. There's a little in between arc that I want to do first. Look forward to it!**

 **Next time; Agents 101**


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